Service processing device and processing support device

ABSTRACT

A device which are able to be applied to a kind of processing such as one in which an authorized non-member (who has no membership for purchasing tickets) is also allowed to pass through a ticket examination gate just in a way as performed by a member. As advance processing prior to such a kind of processing, data exchange has been performed between an apparatus [ 101 ] (e.g. non-member&#39;s mobile phone) which requests for processing (processing for passing through the gate) and an apparatus [ 102 ] (e.g. member&#39;s mobile phone) which provides a support for the processing in advance ( 1 ). At the gate, at the occasion when the apparatus [ 101 ] conducts communications with an apparatus [ 103 ] (ticket examination machine), the apparatus [ 101 ] also makes connections with the apparatus [ 102 ] ( 2 ) to be authenticated by the apparatus [ 102 ], and have the apparatus [ 102 ] provide a support in presentation of a ticket ( 3 ). In such an occasion, the apparatus [ 102 ] makes a confirmation either automatically or manually. The apparatus [ 102 ] may be located away from other apparatuses. This processing maybe applied to a POS payment situation.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method thereof whichenable processing in a case where an apparatus having an insufficiencyin function or security performs processing with some other apparatus,where the processing is enabled by making coordination between theapparatus having such an insufficiency and the other apparatus which iscapable of carrying out the processing with the apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

In the case where it is wished to perform some processing with anapparatus in communications with some other apparatus, it is impossiblefor the apparatus to perform the processing because of insufficiency orlimitation in terms of its function or security, there is a scheme tohave another apparatus having a sufficient function or security act as asubstitute to perform the processing.

As an example related to communications schemes, there exists anapparatus which enables communications with a communication partnerapparatus which is connected to a wide area communications network bymaking delegation from a slave terminal (such a terminal corresponds toa simplified apparatus according to the present invention) which is notprovided with a wide area communications function to a master terminal(such a terminal corresponds to a standard apparatus according to thepresent invention) which is provided with the wide area communicationsfunction (Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-298391).

In a case where a terminal apparatus is unable to perform processingwith a processing target apparatus such as a server on the other end dueto an insufficiency in terms of its function, security, or authority, itis necessary for the terminal apparatus to make delegation to some otherapparatus or to perform some procedures to compensate such aninsufficiency on the terminal apparatus itself; as opposed to thecontrivance mentioned above, the current state of the art, as describedbelow, requires a service which allows the terminal apparatus havingsuch an insufficiency to perform the processing without making anydelegation while still under such an insufficient condition, however,such a service has not been made available so far.

For example, applying the workings of the scheme described in theJapanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-98391 to another schemeother than a communications scheme does not enable processing even whena simplified apparatus is located at a place where it is possible forthe simplified apparatus to conduct communications with a processingtarget apparatus provided that the simplified apparatus is insufficientin terms of its function or security for carrying out the processing,the processing target apparatus is not provided with a wide areacommunications function, and a standard apparatus is located away fromthe simplified apparatus and the processing target apparatus.

In addition, regarding ticket examination processing of a transferredelectronic ticket or electronic settlement processing, taking a case ofthe ticket examination processing thereof as an example here, it is notpossible to carry out the ticket examination processing even in a casewhere a simplified apparatus, the user of which wishes to use theticket, is located within the communication-accessible area of a ticketexamination machine provided that a standard apparatus is located awayfrom the ticket examination machine, on the assumption that the ticketexamination machine is not provided with a wide area communicationsfunction, nor is the simplified apparatus provided with a ticketpresentation function (a processing target apparatus here corresponds toa settlement machine such as the ticket examination machine, a POSterminal, and so forth).

Furthermore, regarding the transfer of the ticket and the examination ofthe transferred ticket, it is possible to see correspondences betweenthe standard apparatus and a terminal held by a member of a ticketservice (hereafter referred to as a member terminal), and between thesimplified apparatus and a terminal held by a non-member of the ticketservice (hereafter referred to as a non-member terminal), respectively;herein:

1. According to a scheme which requires both a transferor of a ticketand a transferee of the ticket to be members who should possessmember-only devices or programs, it is troublesome to have a non-memberwho wishes to go through the processing of ticket examination just onlyonce download such a program or have him/her possess such a device.Alternatively, according to a scheme which also provides non-memberswith otherwise member-only programs or member-only tickets, there is thefear of the analysis/leaking-out of the program or the data and abusethereof.

2. In the case of the occurrence of a trouble in relation to the use ofa ticket by a non-member, it is ambiguous where the responsibility forthe trouble rests.

3. The adoption of a scheme which uses different ticket examinationprocedures between the case of ticket examination processing performedfor use of a normal ticket and the case of ticket examination processingperformed for use of a transferred ticket requires further cost relatedto production and proliferation of ticket examination machines.

4. A scheme in which tickets are to be transferred via a server requiresa higher communications cost in comparison with a scheme in which tickettransfer is performed directly between terminals.

5. As a scheme which allows a non-member as well as a member to use aticket without providing the non-member with the ticket, it is possibleto conceive methods such as one in which a member is provided with atype of ticket each of which allows two persons to pass through ticketexamination or another one in which a member purchases a plural numberof tickets and goes through ticket examination processing by presentingone copy for the member himself/herself and at the same time depositinganother copy of the ticket for the non-member to a ticket examinationmachine, and having the non-member go through the ticket examinationprocessing using the deposited ticket; however, the former method has alimitation in that it is not possible for a member and a non-member topass through examination unless both of the member and the non-memberare present at the same time, and the latter method has a limitation interms of the processing order of ticket examination, that is, thenon-member is allowed to pass through examination only after the member.

Various problems have been left unaddressed as enumerated above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a service processingapparatus, a processing support apparatus, and a method thereof whichincrease the freedom of use modes to enhance ease of use considerably.

This object is attained by having an apparatus which requests processing(a simplified apparatus) communicate with an apparatus which provides asupport for the processing (a standard apparatus) while the simplifiedapparatus's also communicating with an apparatus which is the object ofthe processing (a processing target apparatus) at the same time, and bygenerating a communication path between the apparatus which provides thesupport for the processing (the standard apparatus) and the apparatuswhich is the object of the processing (the processing target apparatus)inside the simplified apparatus.

This produces the effect of enabling processing even in a situationwhere, for example, the processing target apparatus is not provided witha wide area communications function and the standard apparatus islocated away from the simplified apparatus requesting the processing andthe processing target apparatus as long as the simplified apparatus islocated within the communication-accessible area of the processingtarget apparatus.

Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to the examination ofa transferred ticket, it is possible to provide a solution to each ofthe above-mentioned problems; that is,

1. It is not necessary to provide non-members with otherwise member-onlyinformation and/or content, or a program for dealing with suchinformation and/or content.

2. Because an approval given by a member at a member terminal side isrequired for using member-only information and/or content, it is clearwhere the responsibility rests at the time of the occurrence of atrouble in relation to the use of a ticket by a non-member.

3. The same processing may be performed by a ticket examination machinein the case of processing performed by a non-member under the approvalfrom a member as that performed in the case of processing performed by amember.

4. A lower communications cost is achieved because it is possible toconduct communications between a member terminal and a non-memberterminal without going by way of a server.

5. It is not necessary for a person who requests processing and a personwho performs processing upon reception of the request to be present atthe same time of ticket examination processing, and it is possible forthe both persons to go through ticket examination processing regardlessof which person has gone through the processing earlier.

The effects as enumerated above are produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating that a standard apparatus communicateswith a processing target apparatus through a simplified apparatus inEmbodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating processing in Embodiment 1 of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing in Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of data provided by asimplified apparatus to a standard apparatus in advance processing inEmbodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of data provided by astandard apparatus to a simplified apparatus in advance processing inEmbodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating ticket examination processing which isperformed by a non-member using a ticket held within a member terminalin Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating normal ticket examination processing inEmbodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating normal ticket examination processingin Embodiments 3 and 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 8A is a schematic line diagram illustrating the contents of advanceprocessing request information;

FIG. 8B is a schematic line diagram illustrating the contents ofresponse information in response to an advance processing request;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a flow for ticketexamination processing which is performed by a non-member using a ticketheld within a member terminal in Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an example of data transferred from anon-member terminal to a member terminal in advance processing performedbefore ticket examination in Embodiments 3 and 4 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating an example of data transferred from amember terminal to a non-member terminal in advance processing performedbefore ticket examination in Embodiments 3 and 4 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating one example of ticket examinationprocessing which is performed by a non-member using a ticket held withina member terminal in Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a flow for ticketexamination processing which is performed by a non-member using a ticketheld within a member terminal in Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in acriteria storage section in Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating normal ticket examination processingin Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating settlement processing which isperformed by a non-member using settlement information within a memberterminal in Embodiment 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a flow for settlementprocessing which is performed by a non-member using settlementinformation within a member terminal in Embodiment 5 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 17A is a diagram illustrating an example of data transferred from anon-member terminal to a member terminal in advance processing performedbefore settlement in Embodiments 5 and 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 17B is a diagram illustrating an example of data transferred from amember terminal to a non-member terminal in advance processing performedbefore settlement in Embodiments 5 and 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating settlement processing which isperformed by a non-member using settlement information within a memberterminal in Embodiment 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a flow for settlementprocessing which is performed by a non-member using settlementinformation within a member terminal in Embodiment 6 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in acriteria storage section in Embodiment 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram for each apparatus in Embodiment 7of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating ticket examination processing which isperformed by a member in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating extracted functions which arenecessary for processing which is performed in advance processing;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating advance processing in Embodiment 7of the present invention;

FIG. 25A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of advanceprocessing request data sent from a non-member terminal to a memberterminal in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 25B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of responsedata sent from a member terminal to a non-member terminal in response toan advance processing request in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 25C is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of ticketexamination inquiry request data sent from a non-member terminal to aticket examination machine in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 25D is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of responsedata sent from a ticket examination machine to a non-member terminal inresponse to a ticket examination inquiry request in Embodiment 7 of thepresent invention;

FIG. 25E is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of ticketexamination request data sent from a non-member terminal to a memberterminal in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 25F is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of ticketexamination command data sent from a member terminal to a ticketexamination machine by way of a non-member terminal in Embodiment 7 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 26A is a diagram illustrating an example of advance informationsent from a non-member terminal to a member terminal in advanceprocessing in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 26B is a diagram illustrating an example of advance informationsent from a member terminal to a non-member terminal in advanceprocessing in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating ticket examination processing whichis performed by a non-member in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 28A is a sequence chart illustrating advance processing inEmbodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 28B is a sequence chart illustrating ticket examination processingwhich is done by a non-member in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a functional block diagram for each apparatus in a case wherethe apparatus is provided with a criteria storage section and a useapproval judgment section in Embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in acriteria storage section in a case where an apparatus is provided withthe criteria storage section and a use approval judgment section inEmbodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a functional block diagram for each apparatus in Embodiment 8of the present invention;

FIG. 32A is a diagram illustrating an example of advance informationsent from a non-member terminal to a member terminal in advanceprocessing in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 32B is a diagram illustrating an example of advance informationsent from a member terminal to a non-member terminal in advanceprocessing in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating settlement processing which isperformed by a non-member in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 34A is a sequence chart illustrating advance processing inEmbodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 34B is a sequence chart illustrating settlement processing which isdone by a non-member in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 35A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of advanceprocessing request data sent from a non-member terminal to a memberterminal in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 35B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of responsedata sent from a member terminal to a non-member terminal in response toan advance processing request in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 35C is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of settlementinquiry request data sent from a non-member terminal to a settlementmachine in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 35D is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of responsedata sent from a settlement machine to a non-member terminal in responseto a settlement inquiry request in Embodiment 8 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 35E is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of settlementrequest data sent from a non-member terminal to a member terminal inEmbodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 35F is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of settlementcommand data sent from a member terminal to a settlement machine by wayof a non-member terminal in Embodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a functional block diagram for each apparatus in a case wherethe apparatus is provided with a criteria storage section and asettlement approval judgment section in Embodiment 8 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in acriteria storage section in a case where an apparatus is provided withthe criteria storage section and a use approval judgment section inEmbodiment 8 of the present invention;

FIG. 38A is a diagram illustrating the combination status of informationand functions in a simplified apparatus and a standard apparatus.

FIG. 38B is a diagram illustrating the combination status of informationand functions in a simplified apparatus and a standard apparatus.

FIG. 38C is a diagram illustrating the combination status of informationand functions in a simplified apparatus and a standard apparatus.

FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow between each ofapparatuses in Embodiment 9 of the present invention;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow in Embodiment 9 ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow between each ofapparatuses in Embodiment 10 of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the presentinvention is in no case limited to these embodiments; the presentinvention is able to be exploited in various kinds of modes within therange where the gist of the present invention is maintained.

(Embodiment 1)

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow between each ofapparatuses in Embodiments 1 and 2 according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, simplified apparatus 101 is provided with a function toconduct communications with another apparatus, a function to requestprocessing to said another apparatus, and a function to give an approvalfor an authorized apparatus to conduct communications with some otherapparatus other than said another apparatus by having the authorizedapparatus going through the simplified apparatus 101 itself, andstandard apparatus 102 is provided with a function to conductcommunications with another apparatus, and a function for an input orexecution of a judgment on an approval/disapproval upon reception of aprocessing request from said another apparatus.

Processing target apparatus 103 conducts communications with eithersimplified apparatus 101 or standard apparatus 102 to perform some kindof processing (for example, in a case of a ticket examination system ora settlement processing system and so on, simplified apparatus 101 andstandard apparatus 102 correspond to mobile phones, PDAs, notebook-sizedpersonal computers, and so forth, while processing target apparatus 103corresponds to a ticket examination machine, a settlement machine, andso forth).

That is, when the user of simplified apparatus 101 wishes to performsome kind of processing with processing target apparatus 103 on theother end, even if simplified apparatus 101 alone is not able to do sobecause simplified apparatus 101 is insufficient in terms of itsfunctions or security, it is made to look as if simplified apparatus 101were performing the processing with processing target apparatus 103 onthe other end through the coordination of simplified apparatus 101 withstandard apparatus 102. Namely, simplified apparatus 101 has exchangedinformation (advance processing) with standard apparatus 102 in advance[{circumflex over (1)}], and makes some kind of a request, which isrequired for the processing with processing target apparatus 103 on theother end, to standard apparatus 102 based on the advance processinginformation at the occasion of the actual execution of the processingwith processing target apparatus 103 on the other end [{circumflex over(2)}], while standard apparatus 102 executes the processing withprocessing target apparatus 103 on the other end not in directcommunications but by way of simplified apparatus 101 upon reception ofthe processing request [{circumflex over (3)}].

Next, a processing flow in Embodiment 1 is described below withreference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

In advance, simplified apparatus 101 provides information which isnecessary for identifying simplified apparatus 101 to standard apparatus102, while standard apparatus 102 provides information which isnecessary for making connections to standard apparatus 102 to simplifiedapparatus 101 (step ST 201). An example of data transferred in advanceprocessing is illustrated in FIG. 4. Herein, in a case where bothsimplified apparatus 101 and standard apparatus 102 are mobile phones,each apparatus has exchanged information for identification of theapparatus itself with the other, that is, the telephone number (and thename) of the user of simplified apparatus 101, which is used foridentification of simplified apparatus 101 by standard apparatus 102,provided from simplified apparatus 101 to standard apparatus 102 [FIG.4(A)], and in reverse, the telephone number of standard apparatus 102,which is used for the identification of standard apparatus 102 bysimplified apparatus 101, provided from standard apparatus 102 tosimplified apparatus 101 [FIG. 4(B)].

Upon accepting an input of a processing request at simplified apparatus101 (step ST 202), simplified apparatus 101 generates a communicationpath between standard apparatus 102 and processing target apparatus 103within simplified apparatus 101 itself, and standard apparatus 102performs the processing in communications with processing targetapparatus 103 by way of simplified apparatus 101. As a series ofprocedures to be performed after the advance processing, for example, itis possible to cite methods as described below.

1. Simplified apparatus 101 sends a connection request to processingtarget apparatus 103, while processing target apparatus 103 makes arequest for processing to simplified apparatus 101 upon reception of therequest. Next, simplified apparatus 101 sends a connection request tostandard apparatus 102, and simplified apparatus 101 and standardapparatus 102 perform authentication to make connections between them.Simplified apparatus 101 makes a request to standard apparatus 102 forthe execution of a part of processing which the simplified apparatusitself is unable to execute among the entire processing requested byprocessing target apparatus 103. Next, standard apparatus 102 identifiesthe contents of the request from simplified apparatus 101 and displaysthe identified contents, and prompts the user of standard apparatus 102to enter either an approval/disapproval to the processing request. In acase where the request is approved, standard apparatus 102 executes theprocessing requested from simplified apparatus 101 in communicationswith processing target apparatus 103 by way of simplified apparatus 101(a flowchart is omitted).

2. Simplified apparatus 101 sends a connection request to processingtarget apparatus 103, while processing target apparatus 103 makes arequest for processing to simplified apparatus 101 upon reception of therequest. Next, simplified apparatus 101 sends a connection request tostandard apparatus 102, and simplified apparatus 101 and standardapparatus 102 perform authentication to make connections between them.Simplified apparatus 101 sends all part of the processing requestreceived from processing target apparatus 103 to standard apparatus 102,and makes a request to standard apparatus 102 for processing. Next,standard apparatus 102 identifies the contents of the request fromsimplified apparatus 101 and displays the identified contents, andprompts the user of standard apparatus 102 to enter either anapproval/disapproval to the processing request. In a case where therequest is approved, standard apparatus 102 executes the processingrequested from simplified apparatus 101 in communications withprocessing target apparatus 103 byway of simplified apparatus 101 (aflowchart is omitted).

3. Simplified apparatus 101 performs authentication between simplifiedapparatus 101 itself and standard apparatus 102 using informationprovided in advance, and makes connections to standard apparatus 102(steps ST 203, 204). Upon establishment of connections betweensimplified apparatus 101 and standard apparatus 102, standard apparatus102 identifies the contents of the request from simplified apparatus101, and displays the identified contents (step ST 205). The user ofstandard apparatus 102 enters an approval/disapproval to the requestedprocessing (step ST 206). In a case where the request is given anapproval, simplified apparatus 101 makes connections with processingtarget apparatus 103 (step ST 207), and standard apparatus 102 performsthe processing in communications with processing target apparatus 103 byway of simplified apparatus 101 by using these communication paths (stepST 208).

It is noted that authentication herein may be made in various kinds ofmethods including without limitation a simple method such asidentification of a connection partner terminal based on informationexchanged in advance processing, a complex one which employs a signatureand so on, and there is no intention to limit the authentication in onespecified method.

It is noted that as a basis of differentiation between simplifiedapparatus 101 and standard apparatus 102, factors such as informationwhich is required for execution of processing (such as an electronicticket or a monetary amount), functions, security, authority (such asthe difference in the authority given to the user of each apparatus),the contents of a contract, and so on are conceivable, and hereafter,these are collectively called as capabilities.

By using the method as described above, even in a case where simplifiedapparatus 101 is insufficient in its capabilities and thus has a problemin executing processing in direct communications with processing targetapparatus 103, standard apparatus 102, which is provided with asufficient capabilities, executes the processing in communications withprocessing target apparatus 103 by way of simplified apparatus 101,thereby producing the same effects as that would be produced in a casewhere simplified apparatus 101 were able to execute the processing indirect communications with processing target apparatus 103.

Herein, it is noted that regarding the status of simplified apparatus101, there are statuses such as a status in which simplified apparatus101 does not know which kind of processing should be performed withprocessing target apparatus 103 on the other end, and another status inwhich simplified apparatus 101 knows the contents of the processingwhich should be performed with processing target apparatus 103 on theother end, however, simplified apparatus 101 is unable to execute theprocessing due to an insufficiency or a limitation in its capabilities.

In the case of the former status, the adoption of the above-describedprocedure 1 or 2 produces an effect in that simplified apparatus 101 isable to learn which kind of processing should be requested to standardapparatus 102. Specifically, the above-described procedure 1 is suitablein a case where simplified apparatus 101 is able to judge theprocessing-feasibility of the processing requested from processingtarget apparatus 103, while the above-described procedure 2 is suitablein a case where simplified apparatus 101 is not able to judge theprocessing-feasibility of the processing requested from processingtarget apparatus 103.

On the other hand, in the case of the latter status, the adoption of theabove-described procedure 3 produces an effect in that simplifiedapparatus 101 does not conduct communications with processing targetapparatus 103 until an approval is given by standard apparatus 102,which makes it unnecessary for simplified apparatus 101 to conductcommunications with processing target apparatus 103 in the case of adisapproval by standard apparatus 102.

(Embodiment 2)

Next, an explanation is given below on Embodiment 2 according to thepresent invention with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3.

In the case of Embodiment 1, at the side of a standard apparatus, theuser of standard apparatus 102 enters an approval/disapproval torequested processing upon reception of a processing request fromsimplified apparatus 101; in contrast, according to the presentembodiment, processing approval criteria are stored in a standardapparatus, and then a request from simplified apparatus 101 is checkedagainst the stored criteria to automatically provide a judgment onwhether the processing is approved/disapproved.

In advance, simplified apparatus 101 provides information which isnecessary for identifying simplified apparatus 101 to standard apparatus102, while standard apparatus 102 provides information which isnecessary for making connections to standard apparatus 102 to simplifiedapparatus 101 (step ST 301).

Upon accepting an input of a processing request at the simplifiedapparatus (step ST 302), the simplified apparatus generates acommunication path between the standard apparatus and processing targetapparatus 103 within the simplified apparatus itself, and the simplifiedapparatus has the standard apparatus execute the requested processing incommunications with the processing target apparatus. This step is thesame as that in Embodiment 1, and procedures to be followed thereafterare explained below with the assumption that the procedure 3 inEmbodiment 1 is adopted.

The simplified apparatus performs authentication between the simplifiedapparatus itself and the standard apparatus using information providedin advance, and makes connections to the standard apparatus (steps ST303, 304). Upon establishment of connections between the simplifiedapparatus and the standard apparatus, the standard apparatus identifiesthe contents of the request from the simplified apparatus (step ST 305),and compares the processing approval criteria stored in the standardapparatus itself with the processing request from the simplifiedapparatus (step ST 306) to provide a judgment whether the request isapproved/disapproved (step ST 307). In a case where the request is givenan approval, the simplified apparatus makes connections with theprocessing target apparatus (step ST 308), and standard apparatus 102performs the processing in communications with processing targetapparatus 103 by way of simplified apparatus 101 by using thesecommunication paths (step ST 309) ; in a case where the request is notgiven an approval, the simplified apparatus is not allowed to carrythrough the processing with the processing target apparatus on the otherend.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition tothe effect in Embodiment 1, there is a further effect in that it is notnecessary to enter an approval/disapproval on a standard apparatus ateach time of receiving a request from a simplified apparatus and that itis possible to automatically judge whether it is approved/disapproved,which also reduces the burden of trouble and time required forprocessing for the benefit of the user of the standard apparatus.

(Embodiment 3)

In this embodiment, an explanation is given on a case where servicemodels described in Embodiments 1 and 2 are applied to ticketexamination processing (here, processing target apparatus 103corresponds to a ticket examination machine, simplified apparatus 101corresponds to a non-member terminal, which is not provided with ticketexamination processing capabilities, and standard apparatus 102corresponds to a member terminal, which is provided with ticketexamination processing capabilities).

A ticket described here is an electronic ticket, and a user stores sucha ticket in a member terminal, and uses the ticket at the time of ticketexamination through communications between a ticket examination machineand a terminal. For example, it is possible to conceive an applicationsuch as the execution of ticket examination processing which isperformed by making communications, at the time of ticket examination,with a ticket examination machine, which is placed at the entrance ofthe venue for a movie, concert, and the like, where a purchased ticketfor such an event has been downloaded by a user in a handheld terminal.Furthermore, the applying of the present application to ticketexamination processing enables a non-member of a service, who does notpossess a medium such as a device or a program for handling a ticket oris not given an authority for doing so (hereafter referred to as anon-member), to use the ticket which is possessed by a service member,who possesses such a medium or is given such an authority (hereafterreferred to as a member).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method as to how a ticket possessedby a member-terminal is used with a non-member terminal in Embodiment 3.In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 is a non-member terminal, whilereference numeral 502 is a member terminal. Reference numeral 503 is aticket examination machine for execution of ticket examination. In thisembodiment, an explanation is given with an example of mobile phonesboth for the member terminal and non-member terminal, however they arenot limited to mobile phones, but they may be other mobile terminalssuch as PDAs, notebook-sized personal computers, and so on. Referencenumerals 504 and 505 are ticket examination communications sections formaking communications between the terminals and the ticket examinationmachine respectively, and they may be a public switched telephonenetwork, Bluetooth, IrDA, and so forth.

Reference numerals 506 and 507 are inter-terminal communicationssections for making communications between the terminals, and they maybe a public switched telephone network, Bluetooth, IrDA, and so forth.In addition, they may be the same media as that of the ticketexamination communications sections.

Ticket use request acceptance section 508 is a section that accepts aninput from the user who is a non-member for requesting the use of theticket.

Connection end storage section 509 is a section that stores the terminalinformation of the other end of connections which is required for makingconnections.

Coordination processing/Authentication section 510 is a section thatmakes connections with a member terminal which is indicated by theinformation stored in the connection end storage section, and has theother end of connections perform authentication of the requestingterminal itself.

Connection terminal identification section 511 is a section thatidentifies a connection partner terminal.

Ticket identification section 512 is a section that identifies a ticketwhich is requested to be used by a communication partner.

Ticket storage section 513 is a section that stores the possessedticket, and the section 513 may be a tamper-resistant module,tamper-resistant software, an IC chip, a memory, and so on.

Display section 514 is a section that displays the ticket identified bythe ticket identification section.

Input sections 515 and 516 are sections that the user enters aconfirmation and a request for the use of the ticket therein.

Ticket processing section 517 is a section that executes the processingfor the use of the ticket.

First, the processing flow for execution of normal ticket examination,which is performed by a member, who possesses a ticket, is explainedbelow with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. In FIG. 6, however, theidentical reference numerals are assigned to the parts identical tothose in FIG. 5, and their detailed explanation is omitted here.

Upon acceptance of an input for requesting the use of a ticket at inputsection 515 (step ST 901), the ticket requested to be used is called upfrom ticket storage section 513 at ticket processing section 517 (stepST 902), and the called-up ticket is displayed on display section 514(step ST 903)

Upon acceptance of an input for confirming the use of the ticket atinput section 515 (step ST 904), ticket processing section 517 conductscommunications with a ticket examination machine 503 via ticketexamination communications section 504 (step ST 905), and executesticket examination processing with the ticket examination machine on theother end (step ST 906). Herein, the ticket examination processing suchas a kind of processing for rewriting the contents of the ticket tolabel the ticket as the already-used one may be performed either at theside of the ticket examination machine or the side of the memberterminal.

Next, the processing flow for execution of ticket examination, which isperformed by a non-member by using a ticket which is possessed by amember, is explained below with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9.

In this embodiment, through the exchanging of information betweennon-member terminal 501 and member terminal 502 in advance (advanceprocessing), non-member terminal 501 is able to execute processing(ticket examination processing, settlement processing, and so on) withticket examination machine 503 on the other end in coordination withmember terminal 502 at the time when a necessity arises.

For the execution of this advance processing, an explanation on thepreconditions for the execution of the advance processing is givenbelow. As the precondition, functions which are provided in non-memberterminal 501 in advance include a communications connection function forconnections with member terminal 502, a communications connectionfunction for connections with a processing target apparatus, and aprogram downloading function (such as an Internet browser), whilefunctions which are provided in member terminal 502 in advance include acommunications connection function for connections with non-memberterminal 501, and a program downloading function (such as an Internetbrowser). Not withstanding the above, member terminal 502 may further beprovided with a communications connection function for connections withticket examination machine 503 as its pre-provided function. Such afurther function is, in this embodiment, not to be used for directcommunications with ticket examination machine 503 when member terminal502 just provides a support for the processing, however, the function isused in a situation where the member himself/herself, who is the user ofthis member terminal 502, uses a service which involves communicationswith ticket examination machine 503.

It is noted that as the communication connection functions which arerespectively provided to non-terminal 501 and member terminal 502 inadvance, there is, for example, a telephone function, an infrared datacommunications function, and so on, and the communications connectionfunction for connections with non-member terminal 501 or member terminal502 may be either a different type from or the identical type to thecommunications connection function for connections with ticketexamination machine 503.

In addition, the user of this non-member terminal 501 (non-member) isassumed to know where to make connections with member terminal 502 (theaddress thereof) in advance.

Under these preconditions, a service provider (a company which provideselectronic tickets) has presented a Web site which is accessible throughthe browser of non-member terminal 501 and the browser of memberterminal 502 respectively, and has made a non-member program ready to bedownloaded from this Web site to non-member terminal 501, while havingmade a member program ready to be downloaded from this Web site tomember terminal 502. For further information, the member program is aprogram which becomes downloadable upon completion of memberregistration, while the non-member program is a program which isdownloadable freely without any member registration.

Among the functions held by the member program are: a function totransmit a processing command (ticket examination command) to eitherticket examination machine 503 or non-member terminal 501 and a functionto store information which is necessary for the processing (ticket data)inside member terminal 502.

In addition, among the functions held by the non-member program are: afunction to transmit an advance processing request (includingidentification information for identifying non-member terminal 501), afunction to transmit a processing support request (ticket examinationrequest) to member terminal 502, a function to receive from memberterminal 502 a response (ticket examination command) which is a responseto the processing support request, and to transmit the received responseto ticket examination machine 503, and a function to make an inquiryabout the contents of the processing to ticket examination machine 503.

The user of member terminal 502 (member) downloads the member programfrom the Web site into member terminal 502 at the time of subscriptionto the service. In addition, it becomes possible for the user ofnon-member terminal 501 to execute the advance processing, which isdescribed below, by downloading the non-member program from the Web siteinto non-member terminal 501 at the occasion when s/he wishes to use theservice (ticket examination)

Next, an explanation is given here on the contents of the advanceprocessing. In response to manipulation by the user of non-memberterminal 501 (non-member), non-member terminal 501, in which anon-member program is downloaded, sends advance processing requestinformation (information required for advance processing) to memberterminal 502, which is used by a member (in which a member program hasalready been downloaded). As illustrated in FIG. 8(a), information sentfrom non-member terminal 501 as the advance processing requestinformation contains, information which indicates that the sentinformation is advance processing request information (requestidentifier), information for identification of non-member terminal 501(for example, its terminal ID, telephone number, and so forth), and theaddress of member terminal 502).

Upon reception of the advance processing request information fromnon-member terminal 501, member terminal 502 sends secret informationwhich is necessary for authentication as a response to the advanceprocessing request to non-member terminal 501. As illustrated in FIG.8(b), information sent from member terminal 502 as the response to theadvance processing request contains, information which indicates thatthe sent information is a response to the advance processing request(request identifier), secret information used for authentication (suchas a password), the address of non-member terminal 501, and data of theapproved use (such as ticket identification information). The data ofthe approved use is information which indicates the kinds of ticketswhich are approved to be used by the user of non-member terminal 501,and in the advance processing, in a case where the kinds of the ticketswhich are approved by the member, who is the user of member terminal502, to be used by the non-member, who is the user of non-memberterminal 501, have been chosen, it is possible to send the data of suchapproved uses to non-member terminal 501 as the response to the advanceprocessing request. Accordingly, upon reception of the data of theapproved use at non-member terminal 501, the received data is displayed,which allows the non-member who looks at the displayed data to learnwhich data is approved by the member for use; this eliminates the wasteof requesting data which is not approved for use at the occasion ofsending a processing support request to member terminal 502 afteradvance processing, thereby attaining a smooth processing.

Alternatively, in the step of advance processing, member terminal 502may not send data which is approved to be used by non-member terminal501 to non-member terminal 501. In such a case, it follows that onlypreparation for authentication is performed in the step of the advanceprocessing by transmitting secret information, and member terminal 502notifies data of the approved use to non-member terminal 501 at eachtime when the non-member, who uses non-member terminal 501, makes arequest for use. Such an alternative is effective in a case where anon-member requests processing (ticket examination processing in which aticket is used, settlement processing in which a card is used, and soforth) to the same requested person repeatedly, for example, in a casewhere the non-member, who uses non-member terminal 501, makes requeststo a member, who uses member terminal 502, for the same kind ofprocessing in a repeated manner, just as in a case where anon-membermakes a request, at a certain time, to a member for ticket examinationprocessing in which a certain ticket is used, while the non-member makesa request, at another time, to the same member for ticket examinationprocessing in which another ticket is used, or in a case where thenon-member makes a request to the member for different kinds ofprocessing in a repeated manner, just as in a case where a non-membermakes a request, at a certain time, to a member for ticket examinationprocessing in which a ticket is used for processing, while thenon-member makes a request, at another time, to the same member forsettlement examination processing in which a card is used forprocessing.

┌X1┘

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating extracted functional sectionswhich are specifically necessary for advance processing in non-memberterminal 2001 and member terminal 2002, where, in this block diagram,the identical reference numerals are assigned to the parts whichcorrespond to those in FIG. 21. With reference to this FIG. 23, the flowof advance processing is described below in detail. At non-memberterminal 2001, upon the user's (non-member's) inputting of instructionsfor sending an advance processing request by giving an inputtingmanipulation on input section 2019, input section 2019 provides theinputted instructions to request generation section 2006.

Based on the instructions for transmitting an advance processing requestwhich are provided from input section 2019, request generation section2006 generates an advance processing request from information whichindicates that the information being sent is an advance processingrequest (request identifier), and from information for identification ofnon-member terminal 2001 (apparatus identifier), and provides thegenerated advance processing request to coordination processing section2010.

Coordination processing section 2010 acquires the address of memberterminal 2002 from connection end information storage section 2009, andadds the acquired address to the advance processing request. In thisway, advance processing request information as illustrated in FIG. 8(a)is generated. It is noted that the address of member terminal 2002 isassumed to be stored in connection end information storage section 2009in advance.

The generated advance processing request information is provided fromcoordination processing section 2010 to inter-terminal communicationssection 2004. Inter-terminal communications section 2004 transmits theadvance processing request information to inter-terminal communicationssection 2005 of member terminal 2002.

At member terminal 2002, upon reception of the advance processingrequest information from non-member terminal 2001, inter-terminalcommunications section 2005 provides the received advance processingrequest information to coordination processing section 2011. The advanceprocessing request information provided to coordination processingsection 2011 is referred to by request contents identification section2012. Request contents identification section 2012 identifies thereferred information is advance processing request information based onthe request identifier (FIG. 8(a)) contained in the advance processingrequest information, and notifies the identification result tocoordination processing section 2011.

Coordination processing section 2011 stores the apparatus identifier(FIG. 8(a)) contained in the advance processing request information intoadvance information storage section 2014 in a case where theidentification result notified from request contents identificationsection 2012 is advance processing request information.

Advance information generation section 2015 generates information whichindicates that the information being responded is a response to theadvance processing request (request identifier), and in addition tothat, generates response information in response to the advanceprocessing information by adding each information illustrated in FIG.8(b) (secret information used for authentication, the data of theapproved use) to the request identifier information.

In this generation processing, coordination processing section 2011 hasdisplay section 2021 display the list of tickets stored in ticketstorage section 2016 based on advance information generationinstructions given from advance information generation section 2015. Theuser of member terminal 2002 (member) makes selection of ticket(s) whichare approved to be used by the user of non-member terminal 2001(non-member) through manipulation on a predetermined input section (afigure is omitted).

The information indicating the selected tickets is provided from ticketstorage section 2016 to advance information generation section 2015.Advance information generation section 2015 further provides theprovided information indicating the selected tickets to coordinationprocessing section 2011. Coordination processing section 2011 adds theprovided information indicating the selected tickets to the responseinformation responding to the advance processing request, which is undergeneration at that timing, as “the data of the approved use”.

In addition, non-member terminal authentication section 2017 issuessecret information such as a password, and provides the issuedinformation to coordination processing section 2011, an in addition tothat, establishes association between the secret information and theinformation for identifying non-member terminal apparatus to store theassociated information in the advance information storage section.Coordination processing section 2011 adds the secret information and theaddress of non-member terminal 2001 to the response informationresponding to the advance processing request. In this way, responseinformation illustrated in FIG. 8(b), which is a response to the advanceprocessing request, is generated.

Coordination processing section 2011 provides the response informationwhich is generated as described above to inter-terminal communicationssection 2005. Inter-terminal communications section 2005 transmits theresponse information to inter-terminal communications section 2004 ofnon-member terminal 2001.

Inter-terminal communications section 2004 of non-member terminal 2001provides the received response information to coordination processingsection 2010. Coordination processing section 2010 identifies that thereceived data is response information responding to the advanceprocessing request based on the request identifier (FIG. 8(b)) of thereceived data (response information).

Coordination processing section 2010 stores the secret informationcontained in the response information responding to the advanceprocessing request (secret information generated by member terminal2002) and the data of the approved use contained therein (informationindicating tickets, and so on) in advance information storage section2013. Alternatively, the secret information may be displayed on apredetermined display section (a figure is omitted), and the displayedinformation may be memorized by the user of non-member terminal 2001(non-member), instead of storing the secret information in advanceinformation storage section 2013. If done in such a way, it is possibleto leave no secret information in non-member terminal 2001, which helpsprevent the secret information from being leaked out to a third party inadvance.

Through the advance processing as described above, non-member terminal2001 sends information for identification of non-member terminal 2001itself to member terminal 2002, while member terminal 2002 send s secretinformation used for authentication (and data of tickets, etc., whichare approved for use) to non-member terminal 2001, which produces acondition in which member terminal 2002 is able to identify non-memberterminal 2001 and authenticates terminal identification.

Accordingly, after the advance processing, at the occasion whennon-member terminal apparatus 2001 requests processing to memberterminal 2002, non-member terminal 2001 sends the secret informationissued by member terminal 2002 in the advance processing to memberterminal 2002, thereby making it possible for member terminal 2002 toauthenticate non-member terminal 2001.┘

Next, the processing flow for execution of ticket examination, which isperformed by a non-member by using a ticket which is possessed by amember, is explained below with reference to FIG. 5, and FIG. 9.

First, as advance processing which has been performed before executionof ticket examination, as described above with reference to FIG. 8,member terminal 502 has provided information which is necessary formaking connections to the member terminal itself to non-member terminal501, the user of which will be a pseudo-transferee of his/her ticket,while the non-member terminal has stored the provided information inconnection end storage section 509. In addition, the member terminal hasstored information for identification of the non-member terminal inconnection terminal identification section 511 (step ST 1101). Herein,the information provided from member terminal 502 to non-member terminal501 includes, other than the information which is necessary for makingconnections to member terminal 502, information related to the kinds oftickets possessed by the member, and so forth. An example of datatransferred in advance processing is illustrated in FIG. 10A and FIG.10B. Among the data illustrated in FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B, the dataillustrated in FIG. 10A which is sent from non-member terminal 501 tomember terminal 502 (the telephone number and the name of the user ofnon-member terminal 501) is the information for identification of thenon-member terminal contained in the advance processing requestinformation illustrated in FIG. 8(a), while the data illustrated in FIG.10B which is sent from member terminal 502 to non-member terminal 501(the telephone number of the user of member terminal 502, and ticketspossessed by him/her) is the information for approving use, which iscontained in the response information responding to the advanceprocessing request information illustrated in FIG. 8(b).

After the execution of the above-described advance processing betweennon-member terminal 501 and member terminal 502, in a situation wherethe user of non-member terminal 501 (non-member) wishes to use, forexample, a movie ticket at a movie theater and so on, the non-membersends a processing request via non-member terminal 501 to memberterminal 502, thereby making it possible to execute ticket examinationthrough the use of a ticket possessed by member terminal 502 by creatinga pseudo-situation as though non-member terminal 501 possessed theticket.

That is, upon acceptance of an input for requesting the use of a ticketat input section 516 of non-member terminal 501 (step ST 1102),non-member terminal 501 generates a communication path between memberterminal 502 and ticket examination machine 503 within non-memberterminal 501 itself, and member terminal 502 performs the processing incommunications with ticket examination machine 503 by way of non-memberterminal 501. As a series of processing steps after the advanceprocessing:

1. Ticket examination communications section 505 of non-member terminal501 sends a connection request to ticket examination machine 503, whileticket examination machine 503 makes a request for ticket examinationprocessing to non-member terminal 501 upon reception of the request.Next, non-member terminal 501 sends a connection request to memberterminal 502, and then non-member terminal 501 and member terminal 502perform authentication to make connections between them. Non-memberterminal 501 makes a request to member terminal 502 for the execution ofa part of processing which the non-member terminal itself is unable toexecute among the entire processing requested by ticket examinationmachine 503. Next, at member terminal 502, ticket identification section512 identifies the ticket which is requested to be used by theconnection partner, and provided that member terminal 502 possesses therequested ticket, display section 514 therein displays informationrelated to the requested ticket. The member enters either an approval ordisapproval for use at input section 515. Upon approval by the memberfor the use of the ticket, ticket processing section 517 executes therequested ticket examination processing in communications with ticketexamination machine 503 by way of non-member terminal 501 (a flowchartis omitted).

2. Ticket examination communications section 505 of non-member terminal501 sends a connection request to ticket examination machine 503, whileticket examination machine 5003 makes a request for ticket examinationprocessing to the non-member terminal upon reception of the request.Next, the non-member terminal sends a connection request to the memberterminal, and then non-member terminal 501 and member terminal 502perform authentication to make connections between them. Non-memberterminal 501 sends to member terminal 502 all part of the processingrequest which is received from ticket examination machine 503 inprocessing with ticket examination machine 503, and makes a request tomember terminal 502 for processing. Next, at member terminal 502, ticketidentification section 512 identifies the ticket which is requested tobe used by the connection partner, and provided that member terminal 502possesses the requested ticket, display section 514 therein displaysinformation related to the requested ticket. The member enters either anapproval or disapproval for use at input section 515. Upon approval bythe member for the use of the ticket, ticket processing section 517executes the requested ticket examination processing in communicationswith ticket examination machine 503 by way of non-member terminal 501 (aflowchart is omitted).

3. Non-member terminal 501 conducts communications with the other end ofconnections which is stored in connection end storage section 509through use of inter-terminal communications section 507, and performsauthentication between non-member terminal 501 and member terminal 502through the workings of coordination processing/authentication section510 to make connections with member terminal 502 (steps ST 1103, 1104).Upon establishment of connections between non-member terminal 501 andmember terminal 502, at member terminal 502, ticket identificationsection 512 identifies the ticket which is requested to be used by theconnection partner (step ST 1105), and provided that member terminal 502possesses the requested ticket (step ST 1106), display section 514therein displays information related to the requested ticket (stepST1107). The member enters either an approval or disapproval for use atinput section 515 (step ST 1103). There is a method in which, uponapproval by the member for the use of the ticket, non-member terminal501 makes connections with ticket examination machine 503 (step ST1109), and ticket processing section 517 executes the ticket examinationprocessing in communications with ticket examination machine 503 by wayof non-member terminal 501 (step ST 1110).

Through the adoption of these methods, even when the member is locatedaway from ticket examination machine 5003 and non-member terminal 501,the non-member is able to conduct communications with ticket examinationmachine 503 which is just in front of him/her. When it is viewed fromthe point of ticket examination machine 503, it looks as though ticketexamination machine 503 were executing ticket examination processing incommunications with non-member terminal 501, as a matter of fact,however, ticket examination machine 503 executes the processing of theticket in communications with member terminal 502. Ticket examinationmachine 503 opens its gate, and so on, upon the completion of ticketexamination processing, and allows a non-member who is in front ofticket examination machine 503 to enter through the gate. It is notedthat, herein, the ticket examination processing such as a kind ofprocessing for rewriting the contents of the ticket to label the ticketas the already-used one may be performed, actually, either at the sideof the ticket examination machine or the side of the member terminal.

In addition, in a case where, for example, a public switched telephonenetwork is used as inter-terminal communications sections 506 and 507,there is an effect in that it is possible to execute the pseudo-transferof a ticket even when a member is located far away from a non-member,while on the other hand in a case where two persons wish to executeticket examination processing at the same time, however, ticketexamination machine 503 allows only one person to pass through ticketexamination in each execution, the adoption of Bluetooth or IrDA asinter-terminal communications sections 506 and 507 produces an effect inthat communications are performed in a lower cost in comparison with acase where a public switched telephone network is employed.

It is noted that, regarding the status of non-member terminal 501,statuses are categorized into such a status in which non-member terminal501 does not know which kind of a ticket is being requested by ticketexamination machine 503 on the other end, and another status in whichnon-member terminal 501 actually knows which kind of a ticket should bepresented to ticket examination machine 503 on the other end, however,non-member terminal 501 is unable to execute the ticket examinationprocessing due to lack of the ticket itself or the ticket examinationexecution function, and so on.

In the case of the former status, the adoption of the above-describedprocedure 1 or 2 produces an effect in that non-member terminal 501 isable to learn which kind of processing should be requested to memberterminal 502. Specifically, the above-described procedures 1 aresuitable in a case where non-member terminal 501 is able to judge theprocessing-feasibility of the processing requested from ticketexamination machine 503, while the above-described procedures 2 aresuitable in a case where non-member terminal 501 is not able to judgethe processing-feasibility of the processing requested from ticketexamination machine 503.

In the case of the latter status, the adoption of the above-describedprocedures 3 produces an effect in that non-member terminal 501 does notconduct communications with ticket examination machine 503 until anapproval is given by member terminal 502, which makes it unnecessary fornon-member terminal 501 to conduct communications with ticketexamination machine 503 in the case of a disapproval by member terminal502.

According to the present invention, what are required to be provided innon-member terminal 501 include input section 516, ticket use requestacceptance section 508, connection end storage section 509, andcoordination processing/authentication section 510. Even if thesesections are provided as a program(s), such a program does not containany business know-how nor any other valuable information, and thereforehas no risk of leaking-out thereof even when the program is analyzed,and accordingly the program may be prepared as a downloadable programwhich anyone can download it freely.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it becomespossible for a non-member to use a ticket by providing the terminalswith coordination processing/authentication section 510, connectionterminal identification section 511, and ticket identification section512 and by giving an approval from a member for use of the ticket, and;

1. It is possible to perform pseudo-transfer of a ticket to anon-member, who is not provided with a program or a device for handlingthe ticket.

2. It is not necessary to provide a non-member with a ticket, and aprogram for handling the ticket.

3. Because an approval given at a member terminal side is required forusing a ticket, it is clear where the responsibility rests at the timeof the occurrence of a trouble in relation to the use of the ticket by anon-member.

4. It is not necessary to employ different processing methods at aticket examination machine for the case of use of a normal ticket by amember and for the case of use of a transferred ticket by a non-member.

5. Even if not both a transferor of a ticket and a transferee of aticket are present, it is possible for the both persons to go throughticket examination processing regardless of which person has gonethrough the processing earlier.

6. A lower communications cost is achieved because it is possible toconduct communications between a member terminal and a non-memberterminal without going by way of a server.

There are effects, including without limitation, as enumerated above.

As a matter of course, it is possible for one owner of a member terminalto purchase a group of tickets in a package deal and to allow aplurality of persons to use each ticket, and by doing in such a way, itis further possible, in the case of reserved-seat system, to purchasetickets for grouped reserve seats.

(Embodiment 4)

Next, an explanation is given below on Embodiment 4 according to thepresent invention with reference to FIG. 11.

In Embodiment 3, upon reception of a request for using a ticket from anon-member, a member inputs his/her approval for use at the memberterminal side; in contrast, according to the present embodiment, useapproval criteria are stored in a member terminal, and a judgment isautomatically made on whether an approval is given for use or not bychecking the request from a non-member against the criteria. In FIG. 11,reference numerals 701-717 are identical sections with referencenumerals 501-517 in FIG. 5, respectively.

Use approval judgment section 718 checks use approval criteria stored incriteria storage section 719 against a request for use from a connectionpartner, and makes a judgment as to whether the requested use isapproved or disapproved, while criteria storage section 719 storesticket use approval criteria which are used for checking in making a useapproval judgment.

The processing flow for execution of normal ticket examination, which isperformed by a member, who possesses a ticket, is the same as theprocessing flow for normal ticket examination according to Embodiment 3.

Next, the processing flow for execution of ticket examination, which isperformed by a non-member by using a ticket which is possessed by amember, is explained below with reference to FIG. 11, and FIG. 12.

In this embodiment, in the same manner as in Embodiment 3, advanceprocessing has been executed beforehand between non-member terminal 701and member terminal 702 (step ST 1301). The details of the advanceprocessing here are just the same as the contents of processingexplained with reference to FIG. 8, and therefore its explanation isomitted here.

The connection procedures between a non-member terminal and a memberterminal, and between the non-member terminal and a ticket examinationmachine, after the execution of the advance processing are the same asthe connection procedures according to Embodiment 3, and an explanationis given here regarding a case where the same method as in the method 3of Embodiment 3 is used. Upon completion of authentication betweennon-member terminal 701 and member terminal 702 and establishment ofconnections between the terminals (steps ST 1303, 1304), member terminal702 identifies a ticket requested by non-member terminal 701 (step ST1305), and in case where member terminal 702 possesses the requestedticket (step ST 1306), use approval judgment section 718 compares useapproval criteria which are stored in criteria storage section 719 withthe request for use from non-member terminal 701 (step ST 1307), andmakes a judgment as to whether the request use is approved ordisapproved (step ST 1308).

Upon approval by the member for the use, non-member terminal 701 makesconnections with ticket examination machine 703 (step ST 1309), andmember terminal 702 executes the ticket examination processing incommunications with ticket examination machine 703 by way of non-memberterminal 701 (step ST 1310). It is noted that, in a case where therequested use is disapproved by the member, non-member terminal 701 isnot allowed to carry through the ticket examination processing. Herein,use approval criteria stored in member terminal 702 contains informationsuch as information for identification of a requested ticket andinformation for identification of a person on the other end of line whois requesting for use. An example of data of use approval criteria isillustrated in FIG. 13.

It is noted that FIG. 14 is a block diagram which illustrates theprocessing flow for execution of normal ticket examination, which isperformed by a member, who possesses a ticket. In FIG. 14, however, theidentical reference numerals are assigned to the parts identical tothose in FIG. 11, and their detailed explanation is omitted here. Inaddition, the processing flow of ticket examination illustrated in FIG.14 is the same as that illustrated in FIG. 7, and therefore anexplanation is given here with reference to FIG. 7.

Upon acceptance of an input for requesting the use of a ticket at inputsection 715 (step ST 901), the ticket requested to be used is called upfrom ticket storage section 717 at ticket processing section 713 (stepST 902), and the called-up ticket is displayed on display section 714(step ST 903).

Upon acceptance of an input for confirming the use of the ticket atinput section 715 (step ST 904), ticket processing section 717 conductscommunications with a ticket examination machine 703 via ticketexamination communications section 704 (step ST 905), and executesticket examination processing with the ticket examination machine on theother end (step ST 906). Herein, the ticket examination processing suchas a kind of processing for rewriting the contents of the ticket tolabel the ticket as the already-used one may be performed either at theside of the ticket examination machine or the side of the memberterminal.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing amember terminal with criteria storage section 719 and use approvaljudgment section 718, in addition to the effect in Embodiment 3, thereis a further effect in that it is not necessary for a member to enter aconfirmation at each time of receiving a request for ticket use from anon-member and that it is possible to automatically judge whether therequested use is approved/disapproved, which also reduces the burden oftrouble and time required for ticket examination processing for thebenefit of the member.

(Embodiment 5)

In this embodiment, an explanation is given on a case where servicemodels described in Embodiments 1 and 2 are applied to settlementprocessing (here, processing target apparatus 103 corresponds to asettlement machine, simplified apparatus 101 corresponds to a non-memberterminal, which is not provided with settlement processing capabilities,and standard apparatus 102 corresponds to a member terminal, which isprovided with settlement processing capabilities). Information which isnecessary for making settlement, such as a user's credit card number, isstored by the user in his/her terminal, and at the occasion of makingsettlement, s/he is able to use it by conducting communications betweena settlement machine and his/her terminal.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating non-member terminal 1401, memberterminal 1402, and settlement machine 1403 according to Embodiment 5 ofthe present invention. Non-member terminal 1401 is intended to makesettlement by using settlement information which is held by memberterminal 1402. It is noted that settlement machine 1403, which executessettlement, may be a POS terminal and so forth. In this embodiment, anexplanation is given with an example of mobile phones both for memberterminal 1402 and non-member terminal 1401, however they are not limitedto mobile phones, but they may be other mobile terminals such as PDAs(Personal Digital Assistants), notebook-sized personal computers, and soon.

Settlement machine communications sections 1404 and 1405 arecommunications sections for making communications between the terminalsand the settlement machine respectively, and they may be a publicswitched telephone network, Bluetooth, IrDA, and so forth.Inter-terminal communications sections 1406 and 1407 are communicationssections for making communications between the terminals, and they maybe a public switched telephone network, Bluetooth, IrDA, and so forth.In addition, they may be the same media as that of the settlementmachine communications sections.

Settlement request acceptance section 1409 is a section that accepts aninput for requesting execution of settlement from a user who is anon-member, while connection end storage section 1409 is a section thatstores the terminal information of the other end of connections which isrequired for making connections. Coordination processing/Authenticationsection 1410 is a section that makes connections with member terminal1402 which is indicated by the information stored in connection endstorage section 1409, and has the other end of connections performauthentication of the requesting terminal itself. Connection terminalidentification section 1411 is a section that identifies a connectionpartner terminal. Settlement request identification section 1412 is asection that identifies the contents of a settlement request from aconnection partner. Settlement information storage section 1413 is asection that stores information required for making settlement, and thesection 1413 may be a tamper-resistant module, tamper-resistantsoftware, an IC chip, a memory, and so on. Incidentally, the informationto be stored may be a credit card number and so on. Display section 1414is a section that displays the settlement request identified bysettlement request identification section 1412. Input sections 1415 and1416 are sections through which the user enters a confirmation and arequest for making settlement processing. Settlement processing section1417 is a section that executes settlement processing.

The processing flow for execution of a settlement, which is performed bya non-member by using information which is held by a member, isexplained below with reference to FIG. 15, and FIG. 16.

First, as advance processing which has been performed before executionof a settlement, member terminal 1402 has provided information which isnecessary for making connections to the member terminal itself tonon-member terminal 1401, the user of which will be a person to whom anapproval for the settlement is given, while the non-member terminal hasstored the provided information in connection end storage section 1409.In addition, the member terminal has stored information foridentification of the non-member terminal in connection terminalidentification section 1411 (step ST 1701). Herein, the informationprovided from the member terminal to the non-member terminal includes,other than the information which is necessary for making connections tothe member terminal, information on the kinds of cards possessed by themember, and so forth. An example of data transferred in advanceprocessing is illustrated in FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B.

The details of the advance processing according to the presentembodiment are just the same as the contents of processing explainedwith reference to FIG. 8, and therefore its explanation is omitted here.However, “data of the approved use” which is contained in responseinformation responding to an advance processing request, which isillustrated in FIG. 8(b), is identification information for identifyinga card used for settlement here, and the response information containingsuch identification information has been sent from member terminal 1402to non-member terminal 1401 as response information in advanceprocessing.

Upon accepting an input of a settlement request at non-member terminal1401 (step ST 1702), non-member terminal 1401 generates a communicationpath between member terminal 1402 and settlement machine 1403 within thenon-member terminal itself, and non-member terminal 1401 has memberterminal 1402 execute the requested processing in communications withsettlement machine 1403. As a series of processing schemes after theadvance processing:

1. Settlement machine communications section 1405 of non-member terminal1401 sends a connection request to settlement machine 1403, whilesettlement machine 1403 makes a request for settlement processing tonon-member terminal 1401 upon reception of the request. Next, non-memberterminal 1401 sends a connection request to member terminal 1402, andthen non-member terminal 1401 and member terminal 1402 performauthentication to make connections between them. Non-member terminal1401 makes a request to member terminal 1402 for the execution of a partof processing which the non-member terminal itself is unable to executeamong the entire processing requested by settlement machine 1403. Forexample, in a case where non-terminal apparatus 1401 is able to executea part of the processing requested by settlement machine 1403, just asin a case where non-member terminal 1401 is provided with a settlementfunction, but does not have a sufficient monetary amount for making thesettlement, the contents of the processing requested to member terminal1402 may be a part of the entire processing requested by settlementmachine 1403. Next, at member terminal 1402, settlement requestidentification section 1412 identifies the contents of the settlementrequest from the connection partner, and display section 1414 displaysinformation related to the contents of the settlement request. Themember enters either an approval or disapproval for settlement at inputsection 1415. Upon approval by the member for the settlement, settlementprocessing section 1417 executes the requested settlement processing incommunications with settlement machine 1403 by way of the non-memberterminal (a flowchart is omitted).

2. Settlement machine communications section 140S of non-member terminal1401 sends a connection request to settlement machine 1403, whilesettlement machine 1403 makes a request for settlement processing tonon-member terminal 1401 upon reception of the request. Next, non-memberterminal 1401 sends a connection request to member terminal 1402, andthen non-member terminal 1401 and member terminal 1402 performauthentication to make connections between them. Non-member terminal1401 sends to member terminal 1402 all part of the processing requestwhich is received from settlement machine 1403 in processing withsettlement machine 1403, and makes a request to member terminal 1402 forprocessing. Next, at member terminal 1402, settlement requestidentification section 1412 identifies the contents of the settlementrequest from the connection partner, and display section 1414 displaysinformation related to the contents of the settlement request. Themember enters either an approval or disapproval for settlement at inputsection 1415. Upon approval by the member for the settlement, settlementprocessing section 1417 executes the requested settlement processing incommunications with the settlement machine by way of the non-memberterminal (a flowchart is omitted).

3. Non-member terminal 1401 conducts communications with the other endof connections which is stored in connection end storage section 1409through use of inter-terminal communications section 1407, and performsauthentication between non-member terminal 1401 and member terminal 1402through the workings of coordination processing/authentication 1410 tomake connections with member terminal 1402 (steps ST 1703, 1704). Uponestablishment of connections between non-member terminal 1401 and memberterminal 1402, at member terminal 1402, settlement requestidentification section 1412 identifies the contents of the settlementrequest from the connection partner, and display section 1414 displaysinformation related to the contents of the settlement request (step ST1705), and the member enters either an approval or disapproval forsettlement at input section 1415. (step ST 1706).

Upon approval by the member for the settlement, non-member terminal 1401makes connections with settlement machine 1403 (step ST 1707), andsettlement processing section 1417 executes the settlement processing incommunications with settlement machine 1403 by way of non-memberterminal 1401 (step ST 1708). There are methods as enumerated above.

Through the adoption of these methods, even when the member is locatedaway from settlement machine 1403 and non-member terminal 1401, thenon-member is able to conduct communications with settlement machine1403 which is just in front of him/her. When it is viewed from the pointof settlement machine 1403, it looks as though settlement machine 1403were executing settlement processing in communications with non-memberterminal 1401, as a matter of fact, however, settlement machine 1403executes the settlement processing in communications with the memberterminal. In addition, in a case where, for example, a public switchedtelephone network is used as inter-terminal communications sections 1406and 1407, there is an effect in that it is possible to execute thesettlement processing even when a member is located far away from anon-member, while on the other hand in a case where the two persons areclose to each other, the adoption of Bluetooth or IrDA (Infrared DataAssociation) as inter-terminal communications sections 1406 and 1407produces an effect in that communications are performed in a lower costin comparison with a case where a public switched telephone network isemployed.

It is noted that, regarding the status of non-member terminal 1401,statuses are categorized into such a status in which non-member terminal1401 does not know the contents of settlement processing being requestedby settlement machine 1403 on the other end, and another status in whichnon-member terminal 1401 actually knows the contents of settlementprocessing being requested by settlement machine 1403 on the other end,however, non-member terminal 1401 is unable to execute the settlementprocessing due to lack of the settlement execution function or thesettlement execution authority, and so on.

In the case of the former status, the adoption of the above-describedprocedure 1 or 2 produces an effect in that non-member terminal 1401 isable to learn which kind of processing should be requested to memberterminal 1402. Specifically, the above-described procedures 1 aresuitable in a case where non-member terminal 1401 is able to judge theprocessing-feasibility of the processing requested from settlementmachine 1403, while the above-described procedures 2 are suitable in acase where non-member terminal 1401 is not able to judge theprocessing-feasibility of the processing requested from settlementmachine 1403.

In the case of the latter status, the adoption of the above-describedprocedures 3 produces an effect in that non-member terminal 1401 doesnot conduct communications with settlement machine 1403 until anapproval is given by member terminal 1402, which makes it unnecessaryfor non-member terminal 1401 to conduct communications with settlementmachine 1403 in the case of a disapproval by member terminal 1402.

According to the present invention, what are required to be provided innon-member terminal 1401 include input section 1416, settlement requestacceptance section 1408, connection end storage section 1409, andcoordination processing/authentication section 1410. Even if thesesections are provided as a program(s), such a program does not containany business know-how nor any other valuable information, and thereforehas no risk of leaking-out thereof even when the program is analyzed,and accordingly the program may be prepared as a downloadable programwhich anyone can download it freely.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it becomespossible for a non-member to make settlement by providing the terminalswith coordination processing/authentication section 1410, connectionterminal identification section 1411, and settlement requestidentification section 1412, and by giving an approval by a member forthe settlement processing, and;

1. It is possible for a non-member, who is not provided with a programor a device for dealing with information required for making settlement,to execute settlement processing.

2. It is not necessary to provide a non-member with member-onlyinformation or an application for processing such information.

3. Because an approval given at a member terminal side is required forexecution of settlement processing, it is clear where the responsibilityrests at the time of the occurrence of a trouble in relation to thesettlement made by a non-member.

4. It is not necessary to employ different processing methods at asettlement machine for the case of normal settlement made by a memberand for the case of settlement made by a non-member.

It is possible to make settlement even when not both a member and anon-member are present.

6. A lower communications cost is achieved because it is possible toconduct communications between a member terminal and a non-memberterminal without going by way of a server. There are effects, includingwithout limitation, as enumerated above.

(Embodiment 6)

Next, an explanation is given below on Embodiment 6 according to thepresent invention with reference to FIG. 18. In Embodiment 5 describedabove, upon reception of a request for making settlement from anon-member, a member inputs his/her approval for settlement at themember terminal side; in contrast, according to the present embodiment,settlement approval criteria are stored in a member terminal, and ajudgment is automatically made on whether an approval is given forsettlement or not by checking the request from a non-member against thecriteria. Accordingly, among the components of the configurationillustrated in FIG. 18, criteria storage section 1519 and settlementapproval judgment section 1518 are newly added ones to member terminal1402 described above with reference to FIG. 15, and because itsconfiguration other than such an addition is the same as theconfiguration of member terminal 1402, the identical reference numeralsare assigned to the parts identical to those in FIG. 15, and theirdetailed explanation is omitted here. In addition, in this embodiment,it is assumed that each of non-member terminal 1401 and settlementmachine 1403 has the same configuration as that described above withreference to FIG. 15.

In FIG. 18, settlement approval judgment section 1518 checks settlementapproval criteria which are stored in criteria storage section 1519against a settlement request from a connection partner, and makes ajudgment as to whether the settlement processing is approved ordisapproved. Criteria storage section 1519 is a section that storessettlement approval criteria used for checking in making a settlementapproval judgment.

The processing flow for execution of a settlement, which is performed bya non-member by using information which is held by a member, isexplained below with reference to FIG. 18, and FIG. 19.

In the same manner as in Embodiment 5, advance processing has beenexecuted beforehand between non-member terminal 1401 and member terminal1502 (step ST 1901). The connection procedures between non-memberterminal 1401 and member terminal 1502, and between non-member terminal1401 and settlement machine 1403, after the execution of the advanceprocessing are the same as the connection procedures according toEmbodiment 5, and an explanation is given here regarding a case wherethe same method as in the method 3 of Embodiment 5 is used. Uponcompletion of authentication between non-member terminal 1401 and memberterminal 1502 and establishment of connections between the terminals(steps ST 1903, 1904), member terminal 1502 identifies the contents ofsettlement request from non-member terminal 1401 (step ST 1905), andsettlement approval judgment section 1518 compares settlement approvalcriteria which are stored in criteria storage section 1519 with thesettlement request from non-member terminal 1401 (step ST 1906), andmakes a judgment as to whether the request settlement processing isapproved or disapproved (step ST 1907). Upon approval by the member forthe settlement processing, non-member terminal 1401 makes connectionswith settlement machine 1403 (step ST 1908), and member terminal 1502executes the settlement processing in communications with settlementmachine 1403 by way of non-member terminal 1401 (step ST 1909).Incidentally, in a case where the requested settlement is disapproved bythe member, non-member terminal 1401 is not allowed to carry through thesettlement processing. Herein, settlement approval criteria stored inmember terminal 1502 contains information such as information related tothe purpose and the monetary amount of settlement and information foridentification of a person on the other end of line who is requestingfor settlement. An example of data of settlement approval criteria isillustrated in FIG. 20.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing amember terminal with a criteria storage section and a settlementapproval judgment section, in addition to the effect in Embodiment 5,there is a further effect in that it is not necessary for a member toenter a confirmation at each time of receiving a request for settlementfrom a non-member and that it is possible to automatically judge whetherthe requested settlement is approved/disapproved, which also reduces theburden of trouble and time required for settlement processing for thebenefit of the member.

(Embodiment 7)

In the explanation given in Embodiments 3 through 6, a dominant role forprocessing (as done by coordination processing/authentication section510, and soon) of authentication, which is executed based on advanceprocessing information, is played by a non-member terminal (simplifiedapparatus) side; however, it is perfectly all right even if such a roleis, conversely, played by a member terminal (standard apparatus) side.

In this embodiment, an explanation is given on a case where a memberterminal (standard apparatus) side plays an active role in executingadvance-processing authentication, and especially on a case whereservice models described in Embodiments 1 and 2 are applied to ticketexamination processing (here, processing target apparatus 103corresponds to a ticket examination machine, simplified apparatus 101corresponds to a non-member terminal, which is not provided with ticketexamination processing capabilities, and standard apparatus 102corresponds to a member terminal, which is provided with ticketexamination processing capabilities).

It is noted that the present embodiment modifies Embodiment 3 in such away that a member terminal notifies the contents (kinds) of ticket(s)approved to be used to a non-member terminal at the time of advanceprocessing. Though the detailed explanation of a part of processing suchas authentication is omitted in Embodiment 3 for simplification, in thisembodiment, an explanation of procedure for each processing as well asof the contents of data transferred is provided in greater detail.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating Embodiment 7 according to thepresent invention. In FIG. 21, reference numeral 2001 is a non-memberterminal, while reference numeral 2002 is a member terminal. Referencenumeral 2003 is a ticket examination machine for execution of ticketexamination. In this embodiment, an explanation is given with an exampleof mobile phones both for the member terminal and non-member terminal,however they are not limited to mobile phones, but they may be othermobile terminals such as PDAs, notebook-sized personal computers, and soon. In addition, the member terminal may be a non-mobile terminal suchas a home server, a central server which provides a global control onsuch a server, or a set top box and so forth.

Inter-terminal communications sections 2004 and 2005 are sections thatare used for conducting communications between terminals, and examplesof such sections include modems which utilize a telephone network,Bluetooth as well as wireless LAN both of which employ radio wave, IrDAwhich use infrared radiation, and so on.

Request generation section 2006 is a section that generates a request tobe transmitted based on an inputted command and information acquiredfrom other section.

Ticket examination communications sections 2007 and 2008 are sectionsthat are used for conducting communications between a member terminaland a ticket examination machine or between a non-member terminal and aticket examination machine, and examples of such sections include modemswhich utilize a telephone network, Bluetooth as well as wireless LANboth of which employ radio wave, IrDA which use infrared radiation, andso on. It is noted that ticket examination communications sections 2007and 2008 may be the same media as inter-terminal communications sections2004 and 2005.

Connection end information storage section 2009 is a section that storesinformation required for making connections to other terminal.

Coordination processing sections 2010 and 2011 are sections that relaydata or a command between sections of its own terminal (i.e. terminalaccommodating the sections 2010 and 2011).

Request contents identification section 2012 is a section thatidentifies the contents of a request from a non-member terminal,including: which kind of request it is, from which terminal the requestis issued, which kind of processing is being requested, and so on.

Advance information storage sections 2013 and 2014 are sections thatstore advance information acquired from a non-member terminal or amember terminal.

Advance information generation section 2015 is a section that generatesadvance information based on information acquired from other section.

Ticket storage section 2016 is a section that stores tickets possessed,and storage may be implemented by hardware such as an IC chip for dataprotection, or by program in a processed or encrypted form in storagearea of a memory chip or hard disk, etc., so that the stored data is noteasily read out.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2017 is a section thatauthenticates a non-member terminal by using information acquired fromthe non-member terminal through the inter-terminal communicationssections of the member terminal and of the non-member terminal, and thesection 2017 is assumed to use, for example, a password scheme, achallenge response scheme, and so on.

Ticket processing section 2018 is a section that generates a ticketexamination command to send the generated command to either a ticketexamination communications section or a coordination processing section.

Input sections 2019 and 2020 are sections that a user enters aconfirmation for use of a ticket, a command for use of a ticket, or anapproval/disapproval for use of a ticket therein.

Display section 2021 is a section that acquires ticket information fromthe ticket storage section and that displays the acquired ticket.

First, the processing flow for execution of normal ticket examination,which is performed by a member, who possesses a ticket, is explainedbelow with reference to FIG. 21 and FIG. 22.

Upon acceptance of an input of ticket examination instructions at inputsection 2020 (step ST 2101), a ticket examination inquiry request isgenerated at ticket processing section 2018, and the generated requestis sent to ticket examination machine 2003 via ticket examinationcommunications section 2008 (step ST 2102).

Upon reception of the ticket examination inquiry request, ticketexamination machine 2003 returns information indicating a ticket whichis required for executing ticket examination to ticket processingsection 2018 via ticket examination communications section 2008 (step ST2103).

Upon reception of the information indicating the required ticket fromticket examination machine 2003, ticket processing section 2018 calls upthe data of the ticket to be used from ticket storage section 2016, andthe called-up information related to the ticket is displayed on displaysection 2021.

Upon acceptance of an input of a user confirmation for use of thedisplayed ticket at input section 2020, ticket processing section 2018generates a ticket examination command (step ST 2104), and the generatedcommand is sent to ticket examination machine 2003 via ticketexamination communications section 2008 (step ST 2105), and the ticketexamination processing is executed (step ST 2106). Herein, it is notedthat the ticket examination processing such as a kind of processing forrewriting the contents of the ticket to label the ticket as thealready-used one may be performed either at the side of the ticketexamination machine or the side of the member terminal.

Enters ┌X1┘

Next, an explanation is given on a case where a non-member executesticket examination using a ticket possessed by a member. Discussion hereassumes a case where wireless LAN is used for inter-terminalcommunications section, while IrDA is used for ticket examinationcommunications section, and the apparatus identifier of a non-memberterminal as well as the password thereof is used for authentication ofthe non-member terminal by a member terminal.

First of all, advance processing executed prior to ticket examination isexplained with reference to FIG. 21 and FIG. 24. Upon inputting ofadvance processing instructions by a non-member at input section 2019(step ST 2201), request generation section 2006 generates, under thecommand, an advance processing request from a request identifier, whichindicates that the request is an advance processing request, and anapparatus identifier of the non-member terminal, and the generatedadvance processing request is provided to coordination processingsection 2010. Upon reception of the advance processing request,coordination processing section 2010 acquires the address of the memberterminal out of connection end information storage section 2009 to addthe acquired address to the advance processing request (step ST 2202),and sends the advance processing request (FIG. 25A) to coordinationprocessing section 2011 via inter-terminal communications section 2004and 2005 (step ST 2203).

Next, coordination processing section 2011 sends the advance processingrequest to request contents identification section 2012, and requestcontents identification section 2012 identifies that the request sent tothe section 2012 itself is an advance processing request by referring tothe request identifier, and notifies such identification to coordinationprocessing section 2011. Coordination processing section 2011 sends theadvance information of the non-member terminal contained in the advanceprocessing request to advance information storage section 2014 (step ST2204), and the advance processing request to ticket storage section2016. The list of tickets stored in ticket storage section 2016 isdisplayed on display section 2021, and upon the member's selection ofticket(s) which are approved to be used by the non-member, advanceinformation generation section 2015 generates advance information of themember terminal based on a request identifier which indicates that thereply is a response to the advance processing request, and sends thegenerated advance information to coordination processing section 2011.It is noted that the information for identifying the ticket(s) approvedto be used by the non-member may be added to the advance information ofthe member terminal. Herein, the “information for identifying theticket” contained in the advance information is information whichuniquely indicates the ticket, and assumed to include information foridentifying the kind of the ticket. Coordination processing section 2011adds the address of the non-member terminal to the advance informationof the member terminal, and then acquires the password issued atnon-member terminal authentication section 2017 to add the acquiredpassword to the advance information of the member terminal sent fromadvance information generation section 2015. Here, in a case where themember possesses a plurality of terminals each of which is able to storethe ticket(s) possessed by the member, a list of the addresses of suchterminals may be added to the advance information.

Next, coordination processing section 2011 sends the advance informationof the member terminal (FIG. 25B) to coordination processing section2010 via inter-terminal communications section 2005 and 2004 (step ST2206).

Upon reception of the advance information of the member terminal,coordination processing section 2010 in the non-member terminalidentifies that the received information is the advance information ofthe member terminal by referring to the request identifier, and storesthe identified advance information of the member terminal in advanceinformation storage section 2013 (step ST 2207).

Alternatively, in a case where there is a security problem such as in asituation where there is no area in the non-member terminal where datais protected safely, or in other similar situations, information such asa password may be displayed on the screen of the non-member terminal inorder to allow the owner-user of the non-member terminal to keep thedisplayed information into his/her memory, rather than storing suchinformation into the advance information storage section of thenon-member terminal.

Incidentally, an example of data transferred from a non-member terminalto a member terminal in advance processing is illustrated in FIG. 26A,while an example of data transferred from a member terminal to anon-member terminal in advance processing is illustrated in FIG. 26B.

Next, an explanation of the ticket examination processing after advanceprocessing is given below with reference to FIG. 22 and FIG. 27.

Here, it is discussed regarding the two patterns of procedures: oneprocedure in which a non-member terminal inquires the contents ofprocessing to a ticket examination machine, and after that, thenon-member terminal sends a ticket examination request which containsthe response given from the ticket examination machine to a memberterminal, and another procedure in which a non-member terminal sends aticket examination request to a member terminal; and after the memberapproves the request from the non-member and then sends a ticketexamination command to the non-member terminal, the non-member terminalinitiates connections to the ticket examination machine. FIG. 27illustrates a flowchart which shows a case where the former procedure isadopted. FIG. 28A and FIG. 28B illustrate a sequence chart includingadvance processing. The configuration examples of data to be transferredare illustrated in FIG. 25C through FIG. 25F. In FIG. 25A through FIG.25F, portions boxed in dotted lines, that is, the address of the memberterminal, the address of the non-member terminal, the identificationinformation of the ticket examination machine indicate data which mustbe specified in some cases but do not need to be specified in othercases, depending on the situation such as the type (s) of inter-terminalcommunications sections and ticket examination communications sections.

In the advance processing illustrated in FIG. 28A, the non-memberterminal sends the advance processing request together with advanceinformation to the member terminal (3201), while the member terminalreturns advance information containing secret information to thenon-member terminal as a response to the advance processing request(3202).

In addition, in the ticket examination processing illustrated in FIG.28B, the non-member terminal sends a ticket examination inquiry requesttogether with information which is necessary for identification of thenon-member terminal itself to the ticket examination machine (3203), andthe ticket examination machine returns information which indicates thekind of the ticket required for executing ticket examination to thenon-member terminal as a response to the ticket examination inquiryrequest (3204).

Then, based on the returned information, which indicates the kind of therequired ticket, received from the ticket examination machine as theresponse, the non-member terminal sends a ticket examination request tothe member terminal, where the ticket examination request includesinformation indicating the kind of the ticket, information required foridentification of the non-member terminal, secret information which hasbeen pre-received from the member terminal in advance processing, and soon (3205).

Upon reception of the ticket examination request, the member terminalauthenticates the non-member terminal by referring to the secretinformation contained in the ticket examination request, and also judgeswhether the use of the ticket is approved or disapproved (3206), and ina case where the requested use of the ticket is approved, the memberterminal returns, as a ticket examination command, the data of theticket to be used and the information required for identification of thenon-member terminal to the non-member terminal (3207), thereby themember terminal providing support in the ticket examination processing.

Upon reception of the ticket examination command from the memberterminal, the non-member terminal transfers the ticket examinationcommand to the ticket examination machine without any processing (3208).This allows the ticket examination machine to execute ticket examinationprocessing in accordance with the ticket examination command sent fromthe member terminal by way of the non-member terminal. In this way,because the ticket examination command issued from the member terminalis sent to the ticket examination machine by way of the non-memberterminal, when it is viewed from the point of the ticket examinationmachine, it looks as though the ticket examination command was issuedfrom the non-member terminal, which allows the ticket examinationprocessing to be executed for the benefit of the non-member terminal.

Here, as the first procedure, an explanation is given on a case where aticket examination request is sent to a member terminal after thecontents of processing is inquired by a non-member terminal to a ticketexamination machine.

First of all, upon inputting of ticket examination instructions by anon-member at input section 2019 (step ST 2401), request generationsection 2006 generates a ticket examination inquiry request (FIG. 25C)based on a request identifier, which indicates that the request is aticket examination inquiry request issued against a ticket examinationmachine, and an apparatus identifier of the non-member terminal, and thegenerated ticket examination inquiry request is provided to ticketexamination communications section 2007. Ticket examinationcommunications section 2007 sends the ticket examination inquiry requestreceived from request generation section 2006 to ticket examinationmachine 2003 (step ST 2402), and upon reception of the ticketexamination inquiry request, ticket examination machine 2003 generates aresponse (FIG. 25D) based on a request identifier, which indicates thatthe reply is a response to the ticket examination inquiry request, andon information which indicates the kind of the ticket required forexecuting ticket examination, and sends the generated response to ticketexamination communications section 2007 (step ST 2403).

Upon acquisition of the response from ticket examination machine 2003,which is made in reply to the ticket examination inquiry request, viaticket examination communications section 2007, request generationsection 2006 generates a ticket examination request based on informationwhich indicates the kind of the ticket being required for executingticket examination, which is requested from the ticket examinationmachine, the request identifier which indicates that the request is aticket examination request, and the apparatus identifier of thenon-member terminal, and then sends the generated ticket examinationrequest to coordination processing section 2010. Alternatively, in acase where the non-member terminal has been notified of the informationrelated to the tickets which are approved to be used from the memberterminal, the non-member terminal may retrieve the same kind of theticket as the ticket being requested from the ticket examination machineamong the notified tickets approved to be used, and may use theinformation indicating the retrieved ticket for the purpose of theticket examination request instead of the aforementioned informationwhich indicates the kind of the ticket being required for executingticket examination.

Upon reception of the ticket examination request, coordinationprocessing section 2010 acquires the address of the member terminal fromconnection end information storage section 2009, and adds the acquiredaddress to the ticket examination request (step ST 2404), and furtheradds the password inputted by the non-member to the ticket examinationrequest. Then, coordination processing section 2010 sends the ticketexamination request (FIG. 25E) to coordination processing section 2011via inter-terminal communications section 2004 and 2005 (step ST 2405).It is noted that the timing of password input by the non-member may beduring a time period from the generation of the ticket examinationrequest through the reaching of the generated ticket examination requestto the member terminal, or during a time period from the reception ofthe response from the ticket examination machine by the non-memberterminal through the generation of the ticket examination request. Inaddition, in a case where the member possesses a plurality of terminalseach of which is able to store the ticket(s) possessed by the member,and in a case where the non-member terminal has received a list of theaddresses of such terminals in advance processing, the non-memberterminal is assumed to perform sequential retrieval for searching andselecting of the other end of connections out of the list.

Coordination processing section 2011 sends the ticket examinationrequest to request contents identification section 2012, and requestcontents identification section 2012 identifies that the request sent tothe section 2012 itself is a ticket examination request by referring tothe request identifier, and notifies such identification to coordinationprocessing section 2011. Coordination processing section 2011 acquiresthe advance information of the non-member terminal out of advanceinformation storage section 2014, and sends the acquired advanceinformation together with the password and the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal contained in the ticket examination request tonon-member terminal authentication section 2017.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2017 compares the storedpassword with the password contained in the ticket examination request,and also compares the advance information of the non-member terminalsent from coordination processing section 2011 with the apparatusidentifier of the non-member terminal for authentication of thenon-member terminal, and upon successful authentication of thenon-member terminal, the section 2017 notifies the success inauthentication to coordination processing section 2011 (step ST 2406).

Upon reception of the notification of the successful authentication,coordination processing section 2011 sends the information whichindicates the kind of the ticket required for executing ticketexamination to ticket storage section 2016, where such information iscontained in the ticket examination request. Next, the information whichindicates the ticket requested from the non-member terminal is sent todisplay section 2021 to be displayed on the member terminal screen, andthen the member inputs either an approval/disapproval for the use of therequested ticket through input section 2020 (step ST 2407).

When the use of the ticket is approved, ticket processing section 2018acquires the data of the ticket to be used from ticket storage section2016, and adds the acquired data to the request identifier whichindicates that it is a ticket examination command (FIG. 25F) (step ST2408), and sends the generated ticket examination command tocoordination processing section 2011. Upon reception of the ticketexamination command, coordination processing section 2011 adds theapparatus identifier of the non-member terminal to the ticketexamination command, and sends the command to coordination processingsection 2010 via inter-terminal communications section 2005 and 2004(step ST 2409). Alternatively, the request identifier which indicatesthat it is a ticket examination command may be added to the ticketexamination command at coordination processing section 2011.

Coordination processing section 2010 sends the ticket examinationcommand to ticket examination communications section 2007, and then theticket examination command is further transferred from ticketexamination communications section 2007 to ticket examination machine2003 (step ST 2410) so that ticket examination processing is executedthere (step ST 2411). It is noted that, herein, the ticket examinationprocessing such as a kind of processing for rewriting the contents ofthe ticket to label the ticket as the already-used one may be performed,actually, either at the side of the ticket examination machine or theside of the member terminal.

Next, as the second procedure, an explanation is given on a case where aticket examination request is sent from a non-member terminal to amember terminal, and the non-member terminal initiates communicationswith a ticket examination machine only after a member approves therequest and sends a ticket examination command to the non-memberterminal.

First of all, when a non-member inputs ticket examination instructionsthrough input section 2019, request generation section 2006 generates aticket examination request based on the request identifier whichindicates that the request is a ticket examination request, informationwhich indicates the kind of the ticket being required for executingticket examination, and the apparatus identifier of the non-memberterminal, and then sends the generated ticket examination request tocoordination processing section 2010.

Next, coordination processing section 2010 acquires the address of themember terminal out of connection end information storage section 2009to add the acquired address to the ticket examination request, furtheracquires the password inputted by the non-member to further add theacquired password to the ticket examination request, and sends theticket examination request to coordination processing section 2011 viainter-terminal communications section 2004 and 2005. It is noted thatthe timing of password input by the non-member may be during a timeperiod from the generation of the ticket examination request through thereaching of the generated ticket examination request to the memberterminal, or during a time period from the inputting of the ticketexamination instructions by the non-member through the generation of theticket examination request. In addition, in a case where the memberpossesses a plurality of terminals each of which is able to store theticket(s) possessed by the member, and in a case where the non-memberterminal has received a list of the addresses of such terminals inadvance processing, the non-member terminal is assumed to performsequential retrieval for searching and selecting of the other end ofconnections out of the list.

Coordination processing section 2011 sends the ticket examinationrequest to request contents identification section 2012, and requestcontents identification section 2012 identifies that the request sent tothe section 2012 itself is a ticket examination request by referring tothe request identifier, and notifies such identification to coordinationprocessing section 2011. Coordination processing section 2011 acquiresthe advance information of the non-member terminal out of advanceinformation storage section 2014, and sends the acquired advanceinformation together with the password and the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal contained in the ticket examination request tonon-member terminal authentication section 2017.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2017 compares the storedpassword with the password contained in the ticket examination requestsent to the section 2017 itself, and also compares the advanceinformation of the non-member terminal with the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal for authentication of the non-member terminal,and upon successful authentication of the non-member terminal, thesection 2017 notifies the success in authentication to coordinationprocessing section 2011.

Upon reception of the notification of the successful authentication,coordination processing section 2011 sends the ticket examinationrequest to ticket storage section 2016.

Next, the information which indicates the ticket requested from thenon-member terminal, where such information is contained in the ticketexamination request, is sent to display section 2021 to be displayed onthe member terminal screen, and then the member inputs either anapproval/disapproval for the use of the requested ticket through inputsection 2020.

When the use of the ticket is approved, ticket processing section 2018acquires the data of the ticket to be used from ticket storage section2016, and adds the acquired data to the request identifier whichindicates that it is a ticket examination command, and sends thegenerated ticket examination command to coordination processing section2011.

Upon reception of the ticket examination command, coordinationprocessing section 2011 sends the ticket examination command tocoordination processing section 2010 via inter-terminal communicationssection 2005 and 2004.

Coordination processing section 2010 sends the ticket examinationcommand received from the member terminal to ticket examinationcommunications section 2007, and then the ticket examination command isfurther transferred from ticket examination communications section 2007to ticket examination machine 2003 so that ticket examination processingis executed there. It is noted that, herein, the ticket examinationprocessing such as a kind of processing for rewriting the contents ofthe ticket to label the ticket as the already-used one may be performed,actually, either at the side of the ticket examination machine or theside of the member terminal.

The first procedure has an advantage in that non-member terminal 2001 isable to acquire information as to which processing must be requested tomember terminal 2002 even in a case where non-member terminal 2001 doesnot know the kind of the ticket being requested from ticket examinationmachine 2003, while the second procedure is suitable for a situationwhere the kind of the ticket required for ticket examination processinghas already been known, as in a case where the non-member stands just infront of ticket examination machine 2003, and the second procedure hasan advantage in that non-member terminal 2001 does not have to conductcommunications with ticket examination machine 2003 provided that memberterminal 2002 disapproves the request.

Through the adoption of these methods, even when the member is locatedaway from ticket examination machine 2003 and non-member terminal 2001,the non-member is still able to execute ticket examination processing incommunications with ticket examination machine 2003 which is just infront of him/her on the other end of connections. In other words, whenit is viewed from the point of ticket examination machine 2003, althoughit looks as though ticket examination machine 2003 itself was executingticket examination processing between ticket examination machine 2003itself and non-member terminal 2001, as a matter of fact, ticketexamination machine 2003 executes ticket processing between ticketexamination machine 2003 itself and member terminal 2002, and uponcompletion of the ticket examination processing, the ticket examinationmachine opens its gate, etc., to allow the non-member who. is in frontof the ticket examination machine itself to enter through the gate.

In addition, in a case where Bluetooth or IrDA is used as inter-terminalcommunications sections 2004 and 2005, there is a produced effect inthat communications are performed in a lower cost in comparison with acase where a public switched telephone network is employed, while on theother hand, in a case where, for example, wide area communications mediasuch as public switched telephone network is used as inter-terminalcommunications sections 2004 and 2005, there is a produced effect inthat it is possible to execute ticket examination by a non-member'susing a ticket possessed by a member even when the member is located faraway from the non-member.

According to the present invention, what are required to be provided innon-member terminal 2001 include input section 2019, request generationsection 2006, connection end information storage section 2009,coordination processing section 2010, and advance information storagesection 2013. Even if these sections are provided as a program(s), sucha program does not contain any business know-how nor any other valuableinformation, and therefore has no risk of leaking-out thereof even whenthe program is analyzed, and accordingly the program may be prepared asa downloadable program which anyone can download it freely.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providingnon-member terminal 2001 with request generation section 2006,connection end information storage section 2009, coordination processingsection 2010, and advance information storage section 2013, while byproviding member terminal 2002 with coordination processing section2011, non-member terminal authentication section 2017, request contentsidentification section 2012, advance information storage section 2014,and advance information generation section 2015, there is a producedeffect in that it becomes possible for a non-member to use a ticket,attained by giving an approval from a member for use of the ticket, and;

1. It is possible for a non-member, who is not provided with a programor a device for handling the ticket, to use a ticket possessed by amember.

2. It is not necessary to provide a non-member with a ticket, and aprogram for handling the ticket.

3. Because an approval given at a member terminal side is required forusing a ticket, it is clear where the responsibility rests at the timeof the occurrence of a trouble in relation to the use of the ticket by anon-member.

4. It is not necessary to employ different processing methods at aticket examination machine for the case of ticket possessed and used bya member and for the case of ticket used by a non-member but actuallypossessed by a member.

5. In a case where a non-member executes ticket examination by using aticket held by a member, the non-member is able to carry through ticketexamination processing even when not both of the member and thenon-member are present, and in addition, the both persons are able toexecute ticket examination processing regardless of which person hasgone through the processing earlier.

6. In comparison with a centralized control type system which deploys aserver between a member terminal and a non-member terminal, it ispossible to reduce system construction cost, system operation cost, andother costs.

7. There is a possibility to achieve a lower communications cost becauseit is possible to conduct communications between a member terminal and anon-member terminal without going by way of a server.

There are effects, including without limitation, as enumerated above.

As a matter of course, it is possible for one owner of member terminal2002 to purchase a group of tickets in a package deal and to allow aplurality of persons to use each ticket, and by doing in such a way, itis further possible, in the case of reserved-seat system, to purchasetickets for grouped reserve seats.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 29, in which the identicalreference numerals are assigned to the parts which correspond to thosein FIG. 22, member terminal 2502 may be provided with criteria storagesection 2520 and use approval judgment section 2521. In this case, thestoring of approval criteria in criteria storage section 2520 producesan effect in that it is possible to automatically judge whether therequested use of the ticket is approved/disapproved by comparing theticket examination request sent from the non-member with the approvalcriteria, which also reduces the burden of trouble and time required forticket examination processing for the benefit of the member. The data ofthe approval criteria includes, for example, the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal, information related to the ticket(s) approvedto be used by the non-member, and so on. FIG. 30 illustrates one exampleof approval criteria.

With the present invention applied to ticket examination, even when themember is located away from ticket examination machine 2003 andnon-member terminal 2001, the non-member is still able to conductcommunications with ticket examination machine 2003 which is just infront of him/her. In such a situation, when it is viewed from the pointof ticket examination machine 2003, it looks as though ticketexamination machine 2003 were executing ticket examination processing incommunications with non-member terminal 2001, as a matter of fact,however, ticket examination machine 2003 executes the processing of theticket in communications with member terminal 2502.

(Embodiment 8)

In the explanation given in Embodiments 3 through 6, a dominant role forprocessing (as done by coordination processing/authentication section510, and soon) of authentication, which is performed based on advanceprocessing information, is played by a non-member terminal (simplifiedapparatus) side; however, it is perfectly all right even if such a roleis, conversely, played by a member terminal (standard apparatus) side.

In this embodiment, an explanation is given on a case where a memberterminal (standard apparatus) side plays an active role in executingadvance-processing authentication, and especially on a case whereservice models described in Embodiments 1 and 2 are applied tosettlement processing such as credit card (hereafter simply referred toas “card”) number settlement and the like (here, processing targetapparatus 103 corresponds to a settlement machine, simplified apparatus101 corresponds to a non-member terminal, which is not provided withsettlement processing capabilities, and standard apparatus 102corresponds to a member terminal, which is provided with settlementprocessing capabilities). Information which is necessary for makingsettlement, such as a user's card number, is stored by the user inhis/her terminal, and at the occasion of making settlement, s/he is ableto use it by conducting communications between a settlement machine andhis/her terminal.

It is noted that the present embodiment modifies Embodiment 5 in such away that a member terminal notifies the kind(s) of card(s) approved tobe used to a non-member terminal at the phase of advance processing.Though the detailed explanation of a part of processing such asauthentication is omitted in Embodiment 5 for simplification, in thisembodiment, an explanation of processing procedure as well as of thecontents of data transferred is provided in greater detail. In addition,in Embodiment 5, an explanation is given on a case where a dominant rolefor performing authentication, which is performed based on advanceprocessing, is played by non-member terminal side; in contrast, it isexplained here regarding authentication actively performed by the memberterminal side in the present embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating Embodiment 8 according to the presentinvention. Reference numeral 2701 is a non-member terminal, whilereference numeral 2702 is a member terminal. Reference numeral 2703 is asettlement machine for execution of settlement processing. In thisembodiment, an explanation is given with an example of mobile phonesboth for the member terminal and non-member terminal, however they arenot limited to mobile phones, but they may be other kinds of terminalssuch as PDAs, notebook-sized personal computers, and so on. In addition,the member terminal may be a home server, a central server whichprovides a global control on such a server, or a non-mobile terminalsuch as a set top box and so forth.

Inter-terminal communications sections 2704 and 2705 are sections thatare used for conducting communications between terminals, and examplesof such sections include modems which utilize a telephone network,Bluetooth as well as wireless LAN both of which employ radio wave, IrDAwhich use infrared radiation, and so on.

Request generation section 2706 is a section that generates a request tobe transmitted based on an inputted command and information acquiredfrom other section.

Settlement machine communications sections 2707 and 2708 are sectionsthat are used for conducting communications between member terminal 2702and settlement machine 2703 or between non-member terminal 2701 andsettlement machine 2703, and examples of such sections include modemswhich utilize a telephone network, Bluetooth as well as wireless LANboth of which employ radio wave, IrDA which use infrared radiation, andso on. It is noted that settlement machine communications sections 2707and 2708 may be the same media as inter-terminal communications sections2704 and 2705.

Connection end storage section 2709 is a section that stores informationrequired for making connections to other terminal.

Coordination processing sections 2710 and 2711 are sections that relaydata or a command between sections of its own terminal (i.e. terminalaccommodating the sections 2710 and 2711).

Request contents identification section 2712 is a section thatidentifies the contents of a request from a non-member terminal,including: which kind of request it is, from which terminal the requestis issued, which kind of processing is being requested, and so on.

Advance information storage sections 2713 and 2714 are sections thatstore advance information received from a non-member terminal or amember terminal.

Advance information generation section 2715 is a section that generatesadvance information based on information acquired from other section.

Settlement information storage section 2716 is a section that storesinformation required for execution of settlement processing such ascredit card number, etc., and storage may be implemented by hardwaresuch as an IC chip for data protection, or by program in a processed orencrypted form in storage area of a memory chip or hard disk, etc., sothat the stored data is not easily read out.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2717 is a section thatauthenticates non-member terminal 2701 by using information acquiredfrom non-member terminal 2701 through the inter-terminal communicationssections of member terminal 2702 and of non-member terminal 2701, andthe section 2717 is assumed to use, for example, a password scheme, achallenge response scheme, and so on.

Settlement processing section 2718 is a section that generates asettlement command to send the generated command to either thesettlement machine communications section or the coordination processingsection.

Input sections 2719 and 2720 are sections through which the user entersa confirmation and a command for making settlement processing.

Display section 2721 is a section that acquires information required formaking settlement from the settlement information storage section andthat displays the acquired information.

Next, an explanation is given here on a case where the non-member makessettlement by using information held by the member, and in thisexplanation, it is assumed for illustration purpose that wireless LAN isused for inter-terminal communications sections 2704 and 2705, whileIrDA is used for settlement machine communications sections 2707 and2708, and further assumed that the apparatus identifier of non-memberterminal 2701 as well as the password thereof is used for authenticationof non-member terminal 2701 by member terminal 2702.

The procedure of advance processing which must be performed beforemaking settlement is as illustrated in FIG. 24, and because it is almostthe same as the procedure in Embodiment 7, its explanation is omittedhere. An example of data transferred from non-member terminal 2701 tomember terminal 2702 in advance processing is illustrated in FIG. 32A,while an example of data transferred from member terminal 2702 tonon-member terminal 2701 in advance processing is illustrated in FIG.32B. It is noted that the advance information which is provided frommember terminal 2702 to non-member terminal 2701 in advance processingdoes not necessarily have to contain information which indicates thekind(s) of card(s) approved by the member to be used by the non-member.

An explanation of the settlement processing after advance processing isgiven below with reference to FIG. 31 and FIG. 33.

Here, it is discussed regarding the two patterns of procedures: oneprocedure in which non-member terminal 2701 inquires the contents ofprocessing to settlement machine 2703, and after that, non-memberterminal 2701 sends a settlement request which contains the responsegiven from settlement machine 2703 to member terminal 2702, and anotherprocedure in which non-member terminal 2701 sends a settlement requestto member terminal 2702; and after the member approves the request fromthe non-member and then sends a settlement command to non-memberterminal 2701, non-member terminal 2701 initiates connections tosettlement machine 2703. FIG. 33 illustrates the processing flow whichshows a case where the former procedure is adopted. FIG. 34A and FIG.34B illustrates a sequence chart including advance processing. Theconfiguration examples of data to be transferred are illustrated in FIG.35A through FIG. 35F. In FIG. 35A through FIG. 35F, portions boxed indotted lines, that is, the address of the member terminal, the addressof the non-member terminal, the identification information of thesettlement machine indicate data which must be specified in some casesbut do not need to be specified in other cases, depending on thesituation such as the type(s) of inter-terminal communications sectionsand settlement machine communications sections.

In the advance processing illustrated in FIG. 34A, the non-memberterminal sends the advance processing request (FIG. 35A) together withadvance information to the member terminal (3401), while the memberterminal returns advance information containing secret information (FIG.35B) to the non-member terminal as a response to the advance processingrequest (3402).

In addition, in the settlement processing illustrated in FIG. 34B, thenon-member terminal sends a settlement inquiry request together withinformation which is necessary for identification of the non-memberterminal itself to the settlement machine (3403), and the settlementmachine returns information which indicates the kind of the card to beused for making the settlement and the monetary amount required for thesettlement to the non-member terminal as a response to the settlementinquiry request (3404).

Then, based on the returned information, which indicates the kind of therequired card and monetary amount, received from the settlement machineas the response, the non-member terminal sends a settlement request tothe member terminal, where the settlement request includes informationindicating the kind of the card and the monetary amount, informationrequired for identification of the non-member terminal, secretinformation which has been pre-received from the member terminal inadvance processing, and so on (3405).

Upon reception of the settlement request, the member terminalauthenticates the non-member terminal by referring to the secretinformation contained in the settlement request, and also judges whetherthe requested settlement is approved or disapproved (3406),and in a casewhere the requested use of the card and the monetary amount is approved,the member terminal returns, as a settlement command, the data of thecard to be used as well as the data indicating the monetary amount, andthe information required for identification of the non-member terminalto the non-member terminal (3407), thereby the member terminal providingsupport in the settlement processing.

Upon reception of the settlement command from the member terminal, thenon-member terminal transfers the settlement command to the settlementmachine without any processing (3408). This allows the settlementmachine to execute settlement processing in accordance with thesettlement command sent from the member terminal by way of thenon-member terminal. In this way, because the settlement command issuedfrom the member terminal is sent to the settlement machine by way of thenon-member terminal, when it is viewed from the point of the settlementmachine, it looks as though the settlement command was issued from thenon-member terminal, which allows the settlement processing to beexecuted for the benefit of the non-member terminal.

Here, as the first procedure, an explanation is given on a case where asettlement request is sent to a member terminal after the contents ofprocessing is inquired by a non-member terminal to a settlement machine.

First of all, upon inputting of settlement instructions by a non-memberat input section 2719 (step ST 3001), request generation section 2706generates a settlement inquiry request (FIG. 35C) based on a requestidentifier, which indicates that the request is a settlement inquiryrequest issued against settlement machine 2703, and an apparatusidentifier of non-member terminal 2701, and the generated settlementinquiry request is provided to settlement machine communications section2707. Settlement machine communications section 2707 sends thesettlement inquiry request received from request generation section 2706to settlement machine 2703 (step ST 3002), and then settlement machine2703 generates a response (FIG. 35D) based on a request identifier,which indicates that the reply is a response to the settlement inquiryrequest, and on information which indicates the kind of the cardrequired for making the settlement as well as on information indicatingthe contents of processing being requested by the settlement machine,such as the required monetary amount information, and sends thegenerated response to settlement machine communications section 2707(step ST 3003).

Upon acquisition of the response from settlement machine 2703, which ismade in reply to the settlement inquiry request, via settlement machinecommunications section 2707, request generation section 2706 generates asettlement request based on information which indicates the kind of thecard as well as the monetary amount being required for making thesettlement, which is requested from the settlement machine, the requestidentifier which indicates that the request is a settlement request, andthe apparatus identifier of non-member terminal 2701, and then sends thegenerated settlement request to coordination processing section 2710. Itis noted that, herein, regarding the information which indicates themonetary amount being required by the settlement machine, where suchinformation is contained in the settlement request, it may beinformation which indicates the amount of shortage in a case wherenon-member terminal 2701 is provided with a settlement function. Inaddition, in a case where information indicating the kind(s) of card(s)approved to be used is contained in the information which has beenreceived by the non-member terminal from the member terminal in advanceprocessing, the non-member terminal may retrieve the same kind of thecard as the card being requested from the settlement machine among thepre-notified cards approved by the member terminal to be used, and mayuse the information indicating the retrieved card for the purpose of thesettlement request instead of the aforementioned information whichindicates the kind of the card being required for making the settlement.

Upon reception of the settlement request, coordination processingsection 2710 acquires the address of the member terminal from connectionend information storage section 2709, and adds the acquired address tothe settlement request, and further acquires the password inputted bythe non-member to add the acquired password to the settlement request(step ST 3004). Coordination processing section 2710 sends thesettlement request (FIG. 35E) to coordination processing section 2711via inter-terminal communications section 2704 and 2705 (step ST 3005).It is noted that, in a case where the member possesses a plurality ofterminals each of which is able to store the settlement information heldby the member, and in a case where non-member terminal 2701 has receiveda list of such terminals in advance processing, non-member terminal 2701is assumed to conduct sequential retrieval for searching and selectingof the other end of connections out of the list.

Next, coordination processing section 2711 sends the settlement requestto request contents identification section 2712, and request contentsidentification section 2712 identifies that the request sent to thesection 2712 itself is a settlement request by referring to the requestidentifier, and notifies such identification to coordination processingsection 2711. Coordination processing section 2711 acquires the advanceinformation of the non-member terminal out of advance informationstorage section 2714, and sends the acquired advance informationtogether with the password and the apparatus identifier of thenon-member terminal contained in the settlement request to non-memberterminal authentication section 2717.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2717 compares the storedpassword with the password contained in the settlement request, and alsocompares the advance information of the non-member terminal sent fromcoordination processing section 2711 with the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal for authentication of the non-member terminal,and upon successful authentication of the non-member terminal, thesection 2717 notifies the success in authentication to coordinationprocessing section 2711 (step ST 3006).

Upon reception of the notification of the successful authentication,coordination processing section 2711 sends the information whichindicates the kind of the card and the monetary amount required formaking the settlement to settlement information storage section 2716,where such information is contained in the settlement request. Next, theinformation which indicates the card and the monetary amount requestedfrom the non-member terminal is sent to display section 2721 to bedisplayed on the member terminal screen, and then the member inputseither an approval/disapproval for the requested settlement throughinput section 2720 (step ST 3007). It is noted that in a case where, inadvance processing, the member has not sent to the non-member theinformation which indicates the kind of the card approved by the memberto be used by the non-member, the member is assumed to select thecard(s) approved to be used at the time of entering his/her approval.

When the requested settlement is approved, settlement processing section2718 acquires the information required for making the settlement,including the data of the card to be used as well as the monetary amountand so forth, from settlement information storage section 2716, and addsthe acquired information to the request identifier which indicates thatit is a settlement command, thereby generating a settlement command(FIG. 35F) (step ST 3008), and sends the generated settlement command tocoordination processing section 2711. Upon reception of the settlementcommand, coordination processing section 2711 adds the apparatusidentifier of non-member terminal 2701 to the settlement command, andsends the command to coordination processing section 2710 viainter-terminal communications section 2705 and 2704 (step ST 3009).

Coordination processing section 2710 sends the received settlementcommand to settlement machine communications section 2707, and then thesettlement command is further transferred from settlement machinecommunications section 2707 to settlement machine 2703 (step ST 3010) sothat settlement processing is executed there (step ST 3011).

Next, as the second procedure, an explanation is given on a case where asettlement request is sent from a non-member terminal to a memberterminal, and the non-member terminal initiates communications with asettlement machine only after a member approves the request and sends asettlement command to the non-member terminal.

First of all, when a non-member inputs settlement instructions throughinput section 2719, request generation section 2706 generates asettlement request based on the request identifier which indicates thatthe request is a settlement request, information which indicates thekind of the card and the monetary amount being required for making thesettlement, and the apparatus identifier of the non-member terminal, andthen sends the generated settlement request to coordination processingsection 2710. It is noted that, in a case where information indicatingthe kind(s) of card(s) approved to be used is contained in theinformation which has been received by non-member terminal 2701 frommember terminal 2702 in advance processing, non-member terminal 2701 mayretrieve the same kind of the card as the card which is necessary formaking the settlement among the pre-notified cards approved by memberterminal 2702 to be used, and may use the information indicating theretrieved card for the purpose of the settlement request instead of theaforementioned information which indicates the kind of the card which isnecessary for making the settlement.

Next, coordination processing section 2710 acquires the address of themember terminal out of connection end information storage section 2709,and further acquires the password inputted by the non-member to add theacquired password to the settlement request, and sends the settlementrequest to coordination processing section 2711 via inter-terminalcommunications section 2704 and 2705. It is noted that, in a case wherethe member possesses a plurality of terminals each of which is able tostore the settlement information held by the member, and in a case wherenon-member terminal 2701 has received a list of such terminals inadvance processing, non-member terminal 2701 is assumed to conductsequential retrieval for searching and selecting of the other end ofconnections out of the list.

Coordination processing section 2711 sends the settlement request torequest contents identification section 2712, and request contentsidentification section 2712 identifies that the request sent to thesection 2712 itself is a settlement request by referring to the requestidentifier, and notifies such identification to coordination processingsection 2711. Coordination processing section 2711 acquires the advanceinformation of the non-member terminal out of advance informationstorage section 2714, and sends the acquired advance informationtogether with the password and the apparatus identifier of thenon-member terminal contained in the settlement request to non-memberterminal authentication section 2717.

Non-member terminal authentication section 2717 compares the storedpassword with the password contained in the settlement request sent tothe section 2717 itself, and also compares the stored advanceinformation of the non-member terminal with the apparatus identifier ofthe non-member terminal for authentication of the non-member terminal,and upon successful authentication of the non-member terminal, thesection 2717 notifies the success in authentication to coordinationprocessing section 2711.

Upon reception of the notification of the successful authentication,coordination processing section 2711 sends the information whichindicates the kind of information required for making the settlement tosettlement information storage section 2716, where such information iscontained in the settlement request.

Next, the information which indicates the card and the monetary amount,which is required for making the settlement and is requested from thenon-member terminal, is sent to display section 2721 to be displayed onthe member terminal screen, and then the member inputs either anapproval/disapproval for the execution of the requested settlementprocessing through input section 2720. It is noted that in a case where,in advance processing, the member has not sent to the non-member theinformation which indicates the kind of the card approved by the memberto be used by the non-member, the member is assumed to select thecard(s) approved to be used at the time of entering his/her approval.

When the requested settlement processing is approved, settlementprocessing section 2718 acquires the information required for making thesettlement, including the data of the card to be used as well as themonetary amount and so forth, from settlement information storagesection 2716, to generate a settlement command, and sends the generatedsettlement command to coordination processing section 2711.

Upon reception of the settlement command, coordination processingsection 2711 sends the settlement command to coordination processingsection 2710 via inter-terminal communications section 2705 and 2704.

Coordination processing section 2710 sends the settlement commandreceived from the member terminal to settlement machine communicationssection 2707, and then the settlement command is further transferredfrom settlement machine communications section 2707 to settlementmachine 2003 so that settlement processing is executed there.

The first procedure has an advantage in that non-member terminal 2701 isable to acquire information as to which processing must be requested tomember terminal 2702 even in a case where non-member terminal 2701 doesnot know the kind of the card or the monetary amount being requestedfrom settlement machine 2703, while the second procedure is suitable fora situation where the kind of the card and the monetary amount requiredfor settlement processing has already been known, as in a case where thenon-member stands just in front of settlement machine 2703, and thesecond procedure has an advantage in that non-member terminal 2701 doesnot have to conduct communications with settlement machine 2703 providedthat member terminal 2702 disapproves the request.

Through the adoption of these methods, even when the member is locatedaway from settlement machine 2703 and non-member terminal 2701, thenon-member is still able to execute settlement processing incommunications with settlement machine 2703 which is just in front ofhim/her on the other end of connections. When it is viewed from thepoint of settlement machine 2703, it looks as though settlement machine2703 were executing settlement processing in communications withnon-member terminal 2701, as a matter of fact, however, settlementmachine 2703 executes the settlement processing in communications withmember terminal 2702.

In addition, in a case where Bluetooth or IrDA is used as inter-terminalcommunications sections 2704 and 2705, there is a produced effect inthat communications are conducted in a lower cost in comparison with acase where a public switched telephone network is employed, while on theother hand, in a case where, for example, wide area communications mediasuch as public switched telephone network is used as inter-terminalcommunications sections 2704 and 2705, there is a produced. effect inthat it is possible to execute settlement processing by a non-member'susing a card possessed by a member even when the member is located faraway from the non-member.

According to the present invention, what are required to be provided innon-member terminal 2701 include input section 2719, request generationsection 2706, connection end information storage section 2709,coordination processing section 2710, and advance information storagesection 2713. Even if these sections are provided as a program(s), sucha program does not contain any business know-how nor any other valuableinformation, and therefore has no risk of leaking-out thereof even whenthe program is analyzed, and accordingly the program may be prepared asa downloadable program which anyone can download it freely.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providingnon-member terminal 2701 with request generation section 2706,connection end information storage section 2709, coordination processingsection 2710, and advance information storage section 2713, while byproviding member terminal 2702 with coordination processing section2711, non-member terminal authentication section 2717, request contentsidentification section 2712, advance information storage section 2714,and advance information generation section 2715, there is a producedeffect in that it becomes possible for a non-member to executesettlement processing, attained by giving an approval from a member forexecution of the settlement processing, and;

1. It is possible for a non-member, who is not provided with a programor a device for dealing with information required for making settlement,to execute settlement processing.

2. It is not necessary to provide a non-member with member-onlyinformation such as a card number and so forth, or an application forprocessing such information.

3. Because an approval given at a member terminal side is required forexecution of settlement processing, it is clear where the responsibilityrests at the time of the occurrence of a trouble in relation to thesettlement processing executed by a non-member.

4. It is not necessary to employ different processing methods at asettlement machine for the case of settlement made by a member and forthe case of settlement made by a non-member by using information held bythe member.

5. In a case where a non-member makes settlement by using a card held bya member, the non-member is able to carry through settlement processingeven when not both of the member and the non-member are present.

6. In comparison with a centralized control type system which deploys aserver between a member terminal and a non-member terminal, it ispossible to reduce system construction cost, system operation cost, andother costs.

7. There is a possibility to achieve a lower communications cost becauseit is possible to conduct communications between a member terminal and anon-member terminal without going by way of a server.

There are effects, including without limitation, as enumerated above.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 36, in which the identicalreference numerals are assigned to the parts which correspond to thosein FIG. 31, member terminal 3002 may be provided with criteria storagesection 3020 and settlement approval judgment section 3021. In thiscase, the storing of settlement approval criteria in criteria storagesection 3020 produces an effect in that it is possible to automaticallyjudge whether the requested settlement processing isapproved/disapproved by comparing the settlement request sent from thenon-member with the settlement approval criteria, which also reduces theburden of trouble and time required for settlement processing for thebenefit of the member. The data of the settlement approval criteriaincludes, for example, the apparatus identifier of non-member terminal2701, information indicating the contents of the settlement approved tobe executed by the non-member, where such contents include monetaryamount, use of the money, and so on. FIG. 37 illustrates one example ofsuch approval criteria.

With the present invention applied to settlement processing, even whenthe member is located away from settlement machine 2703 and non-memberterminal 2701, the non-member is still able to conduct communicationswith settlement machine 2703 which is just in front of him/her. In sucha situation, when it is viewed from the point of settlement machine2703, it looks as though settlement machine 2703 were executingsettlement processing in communications with non-member terminal 2701,as a matter of fact, however, settlement machine 2703 executes thesettlement processing in communications with member terminal 3002.

(Embodiment 9)

According to the above-described Embodiments 1 through 8, as illustratedin FIG. 38A, it is assumed that a simplified apparatus (non-memberterminal) does not possess a ticket or card information, neither is thesimplified apparatus provided with a function for presenting a ticket ora card to a processing target apparatus (ticket examination machine,settlement machine, and so on), however, on the contrary, it is assumedthat a standard apparatus (member terminal) possesses a ticket or cardinformation, and is also provided with a function for presenting aticket or a card to a processing target apparatus (ticket examinationmachine, settlement machine, and soon). In contrast, in this embodiment,as illustrated in FIG. 38B, an explanation is given with an assumptionthat a simplified apparatus (non-member terminal) possesses a ticket orcard information, however, is not provided with a function forpresenting a ticket or a card to a processing target apparatus (ticketexamination machine, settlement machine, and so on), while on the otherside, it is assumed that although a standard apparatus (member terminal)does not possess a ticket or card information, the standard apparatus isprovided with a function for presenting a ticket or a card to aprocessing target apparatus (ticket examination machine, settlementmachine, and so on).

FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow between each ofapparatuses in Embodiment 9 according to the present invention.

In FIG. 39, simplified apparatus 3001 is provided with a function toconduct communications with another apparatus, a function to requestprocessing to said another apparatus, a function to give an approval foran authorized apparatus to conduct communications with some otherapparatus other than said another apparatus by having the authorizedapparatus going through the simplified apparatus 3001 itself, and afunction to store ticket information or card information, and standardapparatus 3002 is provided with a function to conduct communicationswith another apparatus, and a function for an input or execution of ajudgment on an approval/disapproval upon reception of a processingrequest from said another apparatus.

Processing target apparatus 3003 conducts communications with eithersimplified apparatus 3001 or standard apparatus 3002 to perform somekind of processing (for example, in a case of a ticket examinationsystem or a settlement processing system and so on, simplified apparatus3001 and standard apparatus 3002 correspond to mobile phones, PDAs,notebook-sized personal computers, and so forth, while processing targetapparatus 103 corresponds to a ticket examination machine, a settlementmachine, and so forth).

That is, when the user of simplified apparatus 3001 wishes to performsome kind of processing with processing target apparatus 3003 on theother end, even if simplified apparatus 3001 alone is not able to do sobecause simplified apparatus 3001 is insufficient in terms of itsfunctions, it is made to look as if simplified apparatus 3001 wereperforming the processing with processing target apparatus 3003 on theother end through the coordination of simplified apparatus 3001 withstandard apparatus 3002. Namely, simplified apparatus 3001 has exchangedinformation (advance processing) with standard apparatus 3002 in advance[{circumflex over (1)}], and makes some kind of a request, which isrequired for the processing with processing target apparatus 3003 on theother end, to standard apparatus 3002 based on the advance processinginformation at the occasion of the actual execution of the processingwith processing target apparatus 3003 on the other end [{circumflex over(2)}], while standard apparatus 3002 executes the processing withprocessing target apparatus 3003 on the other end not in directcommunications but by way of simplified apparatus 3001 upon reception ofthe processing request [{circumflex over (3)}].

Next, a processing flow in Embodiment 9 is described below withreference to FIG. 39 and FIG. 40.

In advance, simplified apparatus 3001 provides information which isnecessary for identifying simplified apparatus 3001 to standardapparatus 3002, while standard apparatus 3002 provides information whichis necessary for making connections to standard apparatus 3002 tosimplified apparatus 3001 (step ST 3111). Herein, in a case where bothsimplified apparatus 3001 and standard apparatus 3002 are mobile phones,each apparatus has exchanged information for identification of theapparatus itself with the other, that is, the telephone number (and thename) of the user of simplified apparatus 3001, which is used foridentification of simplified apparatus 3001 by standard apparatus 3002,provided from simplified apparatus 3001 to standard apparatus 3002, andin reverse, the telephone number of standard apparatus 3002, which isused for the identification of standard apparatus 3002 by simplifiedapparatus 3001, provided from standard apparatus 3002 to simplifiedapparatus 3001.

Upon accepting an input of a processing request at simplified apparatus3001 (step ST 3112), simplified apparatus 3001 generates a communicationpath between standard apparatus 3002 and processing target apparatus3003 within simplified apparatus 3001 itself, and standard apparatus3002 performs the processing in communications with processing targetapparatus 3003 by way of simplified apparatus 3001. As a series ofprocedures to be performed after the advance processing, for example, itis possible to cite methods as described below.

1. Simplified apparatus 3001 sends a connection request to processingtarget apparatus 3003, while processing target apparatus 3003 makes arequest for processing to simplified apparatus 3001 upon reception ofthe request. Next, simplified apparatus 3001 sends a connection requestto standard apparatus 3002, and simplified apparatus 3001 and standardapparatus 3002 perform authentication to make connections between them.Simplified apparatus 3001 makes a request to standard apparatus 3002 forthe execution of a part of processing which the simplified apparatusitself is unable to execute among the entire processing requested byprocessing target apparatus 3003. Next, standard apparatus 3002identifies the contents of the request from simplified apparatus 3001and displays the identified contents, and prompts the user of standardapparatus 3002 to enter either an approval/disapproval to the processingrequest. In a case where the requested processing is approved,simplified apparatus 3001 sends ticket information or card informationto standard apparatus 3002. Standard apparatus 3002, in turn, executesthe processing requested from simplified apparatus 3001 (i.e. processingin which the ticket information or the card information is utilized) incommunications with processing target apparatus 3003 by way ofsimplified apparatus 3001 (a flowchart is omitted). Alternatively, thetiming when simplified apparatus 3001 sends the ticket information orthe card information to standard apparatus 3002 may be prior to thepoint in time at which the approval is given to the requested processingby the user of standard apparatus 3002.

2. Simplified apparatus 3001 sends a connection request to processingtarget apparatus 3003, while processing target apparatus 3003 makes arequest for processing to simplified apparatus 3001 upon reception ofthe request. Next, simplified apparatus 3001 sends a connection requestto standard apparatus 3002, and simplified apparatus 3001 and standardapparatus 3002 perform authentication to make connections between them.Simplified apparatus 3001 sends all part of the processing requestreceived from processing target apparatus 3003 to standard apparatus3002, and makes a request to standard apparatus 3002 for processing.Next, standard apparatus 3002 identifies the contents of the requestfrom simplified apparatus 3001 and displays the identified contents, andprompts the user of standard apparatus 3002 to enter either anapproval/disapproval to the processing request. In a case where therequested processing is approved, simplified apparatus 3001 sends ticketinformation or card information to standard apparatus 3002. Standardapparatus 3002 then executes the processing requested from simplifiedapparatus 3001 in communications with processing target apparatus 3003by way of simplified apparatus 3001 (a flowchart is omitted).Alternatively, the timing when simplified apparatus 3001 sends theticket information or the card information to standard apparatus 3002may be prior to the point in time at which the approval is given to therequested processing by the user of standard apparatus 3002.

3. Simplified apparatus 3001 performs authentication between simplifiedapparatus 3001 itself and standard apparatus 3002 using informationprovided in advance, and makes connections to standard apparatus 3002(steps ST 3113, ST 3114). Upon establishment of connections betweensimplified apparatus 3001 and standard apparatus 3002, standardapparatus 3002 identifies the contents of the request from simplifiedapparatus 3001, and displays the identified contents (step ST 3115). Theuser of standard apparatus 3002 enters an approval/disapproval to therequested processing (step ST 3116). In a case where the request isgiven an approval, simplified apparatus 3001 sends the ticketinformation stored in simplified apparatus 3001 itself to standardapparatus 3002, and in addition to that, simplified apparatus 3001 makesconnections with processing target apparatus 3003 (step ST 3118), andstandard apparatus 3002 performs the processing in communications withprocessing target apparatus 3003 by way of simplified apparatus 3001 byusing these communication paths (step ST 3119). Alternatively, thetiming when simplified apparatus 3001 sends the ticket information orthe card information to standard apparatus 3002 may be prior to thepoint in time at which the approval is given to the requested processingby the user of standard apparatus 3002.

In addition, authentication herein may be made in various kinds ofmethods including without limitation a simple method such asidentification of a connection partner terminal based on informationexchanged in advance processing, a complex one which employs a signatureand so on, and there is no intention to limit the authentication in onespecified method.

By using the method as described above, even in a case where simplifiedapparatus 3001 is insufficient in its capabilities and thus has aproblem in executing processing in direct communications with processingtarget apparatus 3003, standard apparatus 3002, which is provided with asufficient capabilities, executes the processing in communications withprocessing target apparatus 3003 by way of simplified apparatus 3001,thereby producing the same effects as that would be produced in a casewhere simplified apparatus 3001 were able to execute the processing indirect communications with processing target apparatus 3003.

Moreover, simplified apparatus 3001 provides the ticket information orthe card information held by simplified apparatus 3001 itself tostandard apparatus 3002, and standard apparatus 3002 in turn executesthe processing (such as ticket examination processing, settlementprocessing, and so on) by using the provided ticket information or cardinformation in communications with processing target apparatus 3003byway of simplified apparatus 3001; this makes it possible to executeprocessing even under a situation where simplified apparatus 3001 is notprovided with the capabilities to execute the processing incommunications with target processing apparatus 3003 on the other end,where such execution is attained by having standard apparatus 3002,which is provided with the capabilities, act as a substitute inexecuting the processing. Accordingly, even though simplified apparatus3001 is not provided with any capabilities to execute the processingbetween simplified apparatus 3001 itself and processing target apparatus3003 (e.g. a ticket examination machine), it is still possible for theuser of simplified apparatus 3001 to download (purchase) a ticket(s)which s/he demands from the Web site and executes ticket examinationprocessing in which the downloaded ticket is used by utilizing thecapabilities of standard apparatus 3002, thereby making it furtherpossible for the user of simplified apparatus 3001 to purchase a ticketand soon without worrying about the lack of the processing capabilitiesof simplified apparatus 3001. Consequently, this helps avoid a situationwhere ticket purchase is restrictively available, depending on theprocessing capabilities of the user apparatus, which will thencontribute to increase in the sale of the ticket.

It is noted that, although the above-described embodiment discusses acase where simplified apparatus 3001 is supposed to provide ticketinformation or card information to standard apparatus 3002, the presentinvention is not limited to such a case; instead, at the occasion whenstandard apparatus 3002 executes processing in communications withprocessing target apparatus 3003 by way of simplified apparatus 3001 inresponse to a processing request issued from simplified apparatus 3001,simplified apparatus 3001 may add ticket information or card informationheld by simplified apparatus 3001 itself to information which is goingto be provided from standard apparatus 3002 to processing targetapparatus 3003 by way of simplified apparatus 3001, thereby providingsuch combined information to processing target apparatus 3003.

(Embodiment 10)

According to the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 38C, it isassumed that a simplified apparatus (non-member terminal) does notpossess ticket information or card information, but is provided with afunction for presenting a ticket or a card to a processing targetapparatus (ticket examination machine, settlement machine, and so on),and on the other hand, it is assumed that a standard apparatus (memberterminal) possesses ticket information or card information, but is notprovided with a function for presenting a ticket or a card to aprocessing target apparatus (ticket examination machine, settlementmachine, and so on).

In such an assumption, as illustrated in FIG. 41, if it is furtherassumed that simplified apparatus 4001 is a mobile phone while standardapparatus 4002 is a fixed terminal, and that processing target apparatus4003 is a settlement machine, the user of simplified apparatus 4001 willbe able to execute settlement processing by using simplified apparatus4001 in communications with processing target apparatus 4003 on theother end even without carrying any card information along, where suchsettlement is attained by reading out the required card information fromstandard apparatus 4002 at the occasion of making settlement. In thisway, according to the present embodiment, simplified apparatus 4001 isable to carry through the processing by having standard apparatus 4002provide the required information which simplified apparatus 4001 lacksfor execution of the processing between simplified apparatus 4001 andprocessing target apparatus 4003. It is noted that, in such anassumption, the user of simplified apparatus 4001 and that of standardapparatus 4002 may be either the identical person or not.

As described above, according to the present invention;

1. There is a produced effect in that, in a case where it is wished thatan apparatus having an insufficient function or lacking in securityperforms processing with some other apparatus, it is possible to executethe wished processing by having another apparatus which has ansufficient function or enough security act as a substitute; andmoreover, in a case where approval criteria are set so as to ensure thata judgment for approving/disapproving the wished processing is givenautomatically, then;

2. There is a further produced effect in that it is not necessary toenter an approval/disapproval at each time of receiving a request andthat it is possible to automatically judge whether the request isapproved/disapproved, which also reduces the burden of trouble and timerequired for processing for the benefit of the user of an apparatus.

In addition, depending on which data is to be transferred at theoccasion of advance processing or on which is the contents of approvalcriteria, the present application is applicable to various uses. Forexample, in a case where the present invention is applied to andimplemented in ticket examination processing or settlement processing;

1. By giving an approval from the side of a member terminal, it becomespossible for a non-member to execute processing such as ticket useprocessing or settlement processing.

2. It is not necessary to provide non-members with otherwise member-onlyinformation and content, or an application program for dealing with suchinformation and content.

3. Because an approval given by a member at a member terminal side isrequired for using member-only information and content, it is clearwhere the responsibility rests at the time of the occurrence of atrouble in relation to the execution of ticket examination processing orsettlement processing by a non-member.

4. The same processing may be performed by a ticket examination machineor a settlement machine in the case of processing performed by anon-member under the approval from a member as that performed in thecase of processing performed by a member.

5. A lower communications cost is achieved because it is possible toconduct communications between a member terminal and a non-memberterminal without going by way of a server.

6. It is not necessary for a person who requests processing and a personwho performs processing upon reception of the request to be present atthe same time of ticket examination processing or settlement processing,and in the case of ticket examination processing, it is possible for theboth persons to go through ticket examination processing regardless ofwhich person has gone through the processing earlier.

The effects such as enumerated above are produced.

This specification is based on the Japanese Patent Application No.2002-092115 filed on Mar. 28, 2002, the entire content of which isexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention is suitably applicable to a system which executesprocessing by using a mobile terminal apparatus, where the processing istargeted at a ticket examination machine, settlement machine, and so on.

1. A service processing apparatus which executes processing targeted ata processing target apparatus to which the processing is executed,comprising: a first communication section that conducts communicationswith the processing target apparatus; a second communications sectionthat conducts communications with a standard apparatus which is providedwith capabilities for executing the processing targeted at theprocessing target apparatus and which provides a support in theprocessing in response to a service processing request which is arequest from the service processing apparatus related to the processingtargeted at the processing target apparatus; a storage section thatstores received information which is information received from thestandard apparatus; and a pass processing section that allows datatransmitted from the standard apparatus to pass.
 2. The serviceprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when executing theprocessing targeted at the processing target apparatus, in a case wherea successful authentication is performed based on the receivedinformation, said second communications section transmits the serviceprocessing request to the standard apparatus and receives return datafrom the standard apparatus in response to the service processingrequest, and said pass processing section sends out the return data tosaid first communications section.
 3. The service processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a request generation sectionthat generates an advance processing request which containsidentification information for identifying the service processingapparatus as advance processing which is executed before making therequest to the standard apparatus for the support in the processing tobe provided in response to the service processing request, and thattransmits the generated advance processing request to the standardapparatus via said second communications section.
 4. The serviceprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a requestgeneration section that generates an advance processing request whichcontains identification information for identifying the serviceprocessing apparatus and also contains contents of the processing forwhich the support is requested as advance processing which is executedbefore making the request to the standard apparatus for the support inthe processing to be provided in response to the service processingrequest, and that transmits the generated advance processing request tothe standard apparatus via said second communications section.
 5. Aprocessing support apparatus, comprising: a communications section thatconducts communications with a simplified apparatus which requests forsupport in processing to be provided by the processing supportapparatus; a storage section that stores received information, which isinformation received from the simplified apparatus; an authenticationsection that performs authentication between the simplified apparatusand the processing support apparatus; and a processing execution sectionthat executes the processing requested by the simplified apparatus;wherein said processing support apparatus performs authentication byusing the received information, receives a processing request from thesimplified apparatus to execute the processing in response to theprocessing request in a case where the authentication is successfullyperformed, and returns data which is outputted through the processing tothe simplified apparatus.
 6. The processing support apparatus accordingto claim 5, further comprising: a criteria storage section that storescriteria for approving the processing requested from the simplifiedapparatus; and a judgment section that judges whether the processingrequest is approved or disapproved by comparing the criteria stored insaid criteria storage section with the processing request from thesimplified apparatus.
 7. The processing support apparatus according toclaim 5, further comprising: a response information generation sectionthat generates response information containing secret information forauthentication based on advance information sent from the simplifiedapparatus as advance processing executed before the request for supportin the processing is received from the simplified apparatus; wherein thegenerated response information is transmitted to the simplifiedapparatus.
 8. The processing support apparatus according to claim 7,wherein said response information generation section generates, as theresponse information, a result of a judgment on whether the support isapproved to be provided or not based on contents of the processing whichis sent from the simplified apparatus as the advance information andwhich the support is requested for.
 9. A service processing programwhich executes, when a simplified apparatus executes processing targetedat a processing target apparatus, service processing in coordinationwith another program in a standard apparatus, which provides a supportin processing in response to a service processing request, which is arequest from the simplified apparatus related to the processing targetedat the processing target apparatus, wherein said service processingprogram comprising the steps of: transmitting a service processingrequest to the standard apparatus; receiving a return data in responseto the service processing request or command; and transmitting thereceived return data or command to the processing target apparatus. 10.The service processing program according to claim 9, further comprising,in advance of the step of transmitting the service processing request bythe simplified apparatus to the standard apparatus, the steps of:inquiring contents of processing requested by the processing targetapparatus to the processing target apparatus itself; receiving datawhich indicates the contents of the processing requested by theprocessing target apparatus as a response to the inquiry; and generatinga service processing request based on the data received from theprocessing target apparatus.
 11. The service processing programaccording to claim 9, wherein, in the step of receiving the return databy the simplified apparatus from the standard apparatus in response tothe service processing request, the return data contains data whichindicates an approval to the service processing request, and connectionswith the processing target apparatus are made only after such data isreceived.
 12. The service processing program according to claim 9,further comprising the step of: searching and selecting of another endof connections out of a list of standard apparatuses incommunication-accessible area to make connections when transmitting theservice processing request to the standard apparatus.
 13. A serviceprocessing program which executes processing in coordination with astandard apparatus which is provided with capabilities for executing theprocessing targeted at a processing target apparatus and which providesa support in the processing in response to a service processing requestwhich is a request from an apparatus accommodating the serviceprocessing program related to the processing targeted at the processingtarget apparatus when executing the processing targeted at theprocessing target apparatus to which the processing is executed, whereinsaid service processing program comprising: a first step of storingreceived information which is information received from the standardapparatus; a second step of performing authentication with the standardapparatus by using the received information; a third step oftransmitting a service processing request to the standard apparatus in acase where the authentication is successfully performed; a fourth stepof receiving return data in response to the service processing request;and a fifth step of transmitting the return data to the processingtarget apparatus.
 14. The service processing program according to claim13, wherein in said third step, in the case where the authentication issuccessfully performed, a part of processing which is unable to beexecuted by the apparatus accommodating the service processing programitself among the entire service processing request is transmitted to thestandard apparatus.
 15. The service processing program according toclaim 13, wherein in said third step, in the case where theauthentication is successfully performed, all part of the serviceprocessing request is transmitted to the standard apparatus.
 16. Aservice processing program which executes processing in coordinationwith a standard apparatus which is provided with capabilities forexecuting the processing targeted at the processing target apparatus andwhich provides a support in the processing in response to a serviceprocessing request which is a request from an apparatus accommodatingthe service processing program related to the processing targeted at theprocessing target apparatus when executing the processing targeted atthe processing target apparatus to which the processing is executed,wherein said service processing program comprising: a first step ofstoring received information which is information received from thestandard apparatus; a second step of transmitting a service processingrequest to the standard apparatus; a third step of performingauthentication with the standard apparatus by using the receivedinformation; a fourth step of receiving return data in response to theservice processing request; and a fifth step of transmitting thereceived data to the processing target apparatus.
 17. The serviceprocessing program according to claim 16, wherein in said second step,in the case where the authentication is successfully performed, a partof processing which is unable to be executed by the apparatusaccommodating the service processing program itself among the entireservice processing request is transmitted to the standard apparatus. 18.The service processing program according to claim 16, wherein in saidsecond step, in the case where the authentication is successfullyperformed, all part of the service processing request is transmitted tothe standard apparatus.
 19. A processing support program which is aprogram for providing a support in processing in response to a serviceprocessing request which is a request that is related to the processingtargeted at a processing target apparatus and that is sent from asimplified apparatus, which is not provided with capabilities forexecuting the processing targeted at the processing target apparatus towhich the processing is executed, wherein said processing supportprogram comprising the steps of: storing received information which isinformation received from the simplified apparatus; performingauthentication with the simplified apparatus by using the receivedinformation; receiving a service processing request from the simplifiedapparatus in a case where the authentication is performed successfully;executing a processing in response to the service processing request;and returning data which is outputted through the processing.
 20. Theprocessing support program according to claim 19, further comprising: astep of comparing criteria stored in an apparatus which executes saidprogram with the processing request from the simplified apparatus tomake a judgment as to whether the processing in response to the serviceprocessing request is approved or not.
 21. A processing support programwhich is a program for providing a support in processing in response toa service processing request that is a request related to the processingtargeted at a processing target apparatus and that is sent from asimplified apparatus, which is not provided with capabilities forexecuting the processing targeted at the processing target apparatus towhich the processing is executed, wherein said processing supportprogram comprising the steps of: storing received information which isinformation received from the simplified apparatus; receiving a serviceprocessing request from the simplified apparatus; performingauthentication with the simplified apparatus by using secret informationfor authentication contained in the service processing request;executing a processing in response to the service processing request;and returning data which is outputted through the processing.
 22. Theprocessing support program according to claim 21, further comprising: astep of comparing criteria stored in an apparatus which executes saidprogram with the processing request from the simplified apparatus tomake a judgment as to whether the processing in response to the serviceprocessing request is approved or not.
 23. A ticket examinationprocessing apparatus for executing a processing targeted at a ticketexamination machine, comprising: a ticket examination communicationssection that conducts communications with the ticket examinationmachine; an inter-terminal communications section that conductscommunications with a ticket examination processing support apparatuswhich is provided with capabilities for executing the processingtargeted at the ticket examination machine and which provides a supportin the processing in response to a ticket examination processing requestwhich is a request from the ticket examination processing apparatusitself related to the processing targeted at the ticket examinationmachine; a coordination processing section that relays data or a commandbetween sections within the ticket examination processing apparatusitself and said inter-terminal communications section; a connection endinformation storage section that stores information required for makingconnections with the ticket examination processing support apparatus; anadvance information storage section that stores received informationwhich is information received from the ticket examination processingsupport apparatus; an input section that accepts an input of ticketexamination instructions; and a request generation section thatgenerates a request to be transmitted to either the ticket examinationmachine or the ticket examination processing support apparatus uponreception of the input of the ticket examination instructions at saidinput section.
 24. The ticket examination processing apparatus accordingto claim 23, wherein, when executing the processing targeted at theticket examination machine, said coordination processing sectionreceives the ticket examination request generated at said requestgeneration section to send out the received ticket examination requestto said inter-terminal communications section, and said inter-terminalcommunications section transmits the ticket examination request receivedfrom said coordination processing section to the ticket examinationprocessing support apparatus and then receives a ticket examinationcommand as a response to the ticket examination request, and in additionto that, sends out the received ticket examination command to saidcoordination processing section, and said coordination processingsection sends out the ticket examination command to said ticketexamination communications section.
 25. The ticket examinationprocessing apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising: arequest generation section that generates an advance processing requestwhich contains identification information for identifying the ticketexamination processing apparatus as advance processing which is executedbefore making the request to the ticket examination processing supportapparatus for the support in the processing to be provided in responseto the ticket examination processing request, and that transmits thegenerated advance processing request to the ticket examinationprocessing support apparatus via said inter-terminal communicationssection.
 26. The ticket examination processing apparatus according toclaim 23, further comprising: a request generation section thatgenerates an advance processing request which contains identificationinformation for identifying the ticket examination processing apparatusand also contains contents of the processing for which the support isrequested as advance processing which is executed before making therequest to the ticket examination processing support apparatus for thesupport in the processing to be provided in response to the ticketexamination processing request, and that transmits the generated advanceprocessing request to the ticket examination processing supportapparatus via said inter-terminal communications section.
 27. A ticketexamination processing support apparatus, comprising: an inter-terminalcommunications section that conducts communications with a ticketexamination processing apparatus which requests for a support in aticket examination processing to be provided by the ticket examinationprocessing support apparatus itself; a coordination processing sectionthat relays data or a command between sections within the ticketexamination processing support apparatus itself and said inter-terminalcommunications section; an advance information storage section thatstores information which is received from the ticket examinationprocessing apparatus prior to execution of the ticket examinationprocessing and which is required for authenticating the ticketexamination processing apparatus; a non-member terminal authenticationsection that authenticates the ticket examination processing apparatusbased on the information stored in said advance information storagesection; a ticket storage section that stores a ticket; a ticketprocessing section that executes ticket examination processing; arequest contents identification section that identifies contents of therequest received by said coordination processing section from the ticketexamination processing apparatus; and an input section that accepts aninput of either an approval or a disapproval to use of the ticket. 28.The ticket examination processing support apparatus according to claim27, further comprising: a criteria storage section that stores approvalcriteria, which are criteria for approving the requested processing; anda use approval judgment section that judges whether the requestedprocessing is approved or disapproved by comparing the ticketexamination request from the ticket examination processing apparatuswith the approval criteria stored in said criteria storage section. 29.The ticket examination processing support apparatus according to claim27, further comprising: a response information generation section thatgenerates response information containing secret information forauthentication based on advance information sent from the ticketexamination processing apparatus as advance processing executed beforethe request for support in the ticket examination processing is receivedfrom the ticket examination processing apparatus; wherein the generatedresponse information is transmitted to the ticket examination processingapparatus.
 30. The ticket examination processing support apparatusaccording to claim 29, wherein said response information generationsection generates, as the response information, a result of a judgmenton whether the support is approved to be provided or not based oncontents of the processing which is sent from the ticket examinationprocessing apparatus as the advance information and which the support isrequested for.
 31. A ticket examination processing program whichexecutes, when a ticket examination processing apparatus executesprocessing targeted at a ticket examination machine, ticket examinationprocessing in coordination with another program in a ticket examinationprocessing support apparatus, which provides a support in processing inresponse to a ticket examination request, which is a request from theticket examination processing apparatus related to the processingtargeted at the ticket examination machine, wherein said ticketexamination processing program comprising the steps of: transmitting theticket examination request to the ticket examination processing supportapparatus; receiving a return data in response to the ticket examinationrequest or command; and transmitting the received return data or commandto the ticket examination machine.
 32. The ticket examination processingprogram according to claim 31, further comprising, in advance of thestep of transmitting the ticket examination request by the ticketexamination processing apparatus to the ticket examination processingsupport apparatus, the steps of: inquiring contents of processingrequested by the ticket examination machine to the ticket examinationmachine; receiving data which indicates the contents of the processingrequested by the ticket examination machine as a response to theinquiry; and generating a ticket examination request based on the datareceived from the ticket examination machine.
 33. The ticket examinationprocessing program according to claim 31, wherein, in the step ofreceiving the return data by the ticket examination processing apparatusfrom the ticket examination processing support apparatus in response tothe ticket examination request, the return data contains data whichindicates an approval to the ticket examination request, and connectionswith the ticket examination machine are made only after such data isreceived.
 34. The ticket examination processing program according toclaim 31, further comprising the step of: searching and selecting ofanother end of connections out of a list of the ticket examinationprocessing support apparatuses in communication-accessible area to makeconnections when transmitting the ticket examination request to theticket examination processing support apparatus.
 35. A ticketexamination processing support program which executes processingrequested by a ticket examination processing apparatus which requestsfor a support in ticket examination processing to be provided by aticket examination processing support apparatus, wherein said ticketexamination processing support program comprising the steps of:receiving a ticket examination request from the ticket examinationprocessing apparatus; performing authentication of the ticketexamination processing apparatus based on information which has beenreceived from the ticket examination processing apparatus in advance andwhich is required for the authentication of the ticket examinationprocessing apparatus; executing the processing in response to the ticketexamination request; and transmitting data or a command which isoutputted through the processing to the ticket examination processingapparatus.
 36. The ticket examination processing support programaccording to claim 35, further comprising, in advance of the step ofexecuting the processing by the ticket examination processing supportapparatus in response to the ticket examination request, the step of:making a judgment as to whether the requested ticket examinationprocessing is approved or disapproved by comparing the ticketexamination request from the ticket examination processing apparatuswith the approval criteria stored in the ticket examination processingsupport apparatus.
 37. The ticket examination processing support programaccording to claim 36, wherein the approval criteria contain criteria asto which a ticket is used for or a kind of the ticket for passingthrough the ticket examination machine.
 38. A settlement processingapparatus for executing a processing targeted at a settlement machine,comprising: a settlement machine communications section that conductscommunications with the settlement machine; an inter-terminalcommunications section that conducts communications with a settlementprocessing support apparatus which is provided with capabilities forexecuting the processing targeted at the settlement machine and whichprovides a support in the processing in response to a settlementprocessing request which is a request from the settlement processingapparatus itself related to the processing targeted at the settlementmachine; a coordination processing section that relays data or a commandbetween sections within the settlement processing apparatus itself andsaid inter-terminal communications section; a connection end informationstorage section that stores information required for making connectionswith the settlement processing support apparatus; an advance informationstorage section that stores received information which is informationreceived from the settlement processing support apparatus; an inputsection that accepts an input of settlement instructions; and a requestgeneration section that generates a request to be transmitted to eitherthe settlement machine or the. settlement processing support apparatusupon reception of the input of the settlement instructions at said inputsection.
 39. The settlement processing apparatus according to claim 38,wherein, when executing the processing targeted at the settlementmachine, said coordination processing section receives the settlementrequest generated at said request generation section to send out thereceived settlement request to said inter-terminal communicationssection, and said inter-terminal communications section transmits thesettlement request received from said coordination processing section tothe settlement processing support apparatus and then receives asettlement command as a response to the settlement request, and inaddition to that, sends out the received settlement command to saidcoordination processing section, and said coordination processingsection sends out the settlement command to said settlement machinecommunications section.
 40. The settlement processing apparatusaccording to claim 38, further comprising: a request generation sectionthat generates an advance processing request which containsidentification information for identifying the settlement processingapparatus itself as advance processing which is executed before makingthe request to the settlement processing support apparatus for thesupport in the processing to be provided in response to the settlementprocessing request, and that transmits the generated advance processingrequest to the settlement processing support apparatus via saidinter-terminal communications section.
 41. The settlement processingapparatus according to claim 38, further comprising: a requestgeneration section that generates an advance processing request whichcontains identification information for identifying the settlementprocessing apparatus and also contains contents of the processing forwhich the support is requested as advance processing which is executedbefore making the request to the settlement processing support apparatusfor the support in the processing to be provided in response to thesettlement processing request, and that transmits the generated advanceprocessing request to the settlement processing support apparatus viasaid inter-terminal communications section.
 42. A settlement processingsupport apparatus, comprising: an inter-terminal communications sectionthat conducts communications with a settlement processing apparatuswhich requests for a support in a settlement processing to be providedby the settlement processing support apparatus; a coordinationprocessing section that relays data or a command between sections withinthe settlement processing support apparatus and said inter-terminalcommunications section; an advance information storage section thatstores information which is received from the settlement processingapparatus prior to execution of the settlement processing and which isrequired for authenticating the settlement processing apparatus; anon-member terminal authentication section that authenticates thesettlement processing apparatus based on the information stored in saidadvance information storage section; a settlement information storagesection that stores information required for making settlement such as acredit card number; a settlement processing section that executessettlement processing; a request contents identification section thatidentifies contents of the request received by said coordinationprocessing section from the settlement processing apparatus; and aninput section that accepts an input of either an approval or adisapproval to execution of the settlement processing.
 43. Thesettlement processing support apparatus according to claim 42, furthercomprising: a criteria storage section that stores approval criteria,which are criteria for approving the requested processing; and a useapproval judgment section that judges whether the requested processingis approved or disapproved by comparing the settlement request from thesettlement processing apparatus with the approval criteria stored insaid criteria storage section.
 44. The settlement processing supportapparatus according to claim 42, further comprising: a responseinformation generation section that generates response informationcontaining secret information for authentication based on advanceinformation sent from the settlement processing apparatus as advanceprocessing executed before the request for support in the settlementprocessing is received from the settlement processing apparatus; whereinthe generated response information is transmitted to the settlementprocessing apparatus.
 45. The settlement processing support apparatusaccording to claim 44, wherein said response information generationsection generates, as the response information, a result of a judgmenton whether the support is approved to be provided or not based oncontents of the processing which is sent from the settlement processingapparatus as the advance information and which the support is requestedfor.
 46. A settlement processing program which executes, when asettlement processing apparatus executes processing targeted at asettlement machine, settlement processing in coordination with anotherprogram in a settlement processing support apparatus, which provides asupport in processing in response to a settlement request, which is arequest from the settlement processing apparatus related to theprocessing targeted at the settlement machine, wherein said settlementprocessing program comprising the steps of: transmitting the settlementrequest to the settlement processing support apparatus; receiving areturn data in response to the settlement request or command; andtransmitting the received return data or command to the settlementmachine.
 47. The settlement processing program according to claim 46,further comprising, in advance of the step of transmitting thesettlement request by the settlement processing apparatus to thesettlement processing support apparatus, the steps of: inquiringcontents of processing requested by the settlement machine to thesettlement machine itself; receiving data which indicates the contentsof the processing requested by the settlement machine as a response tothe inquiry; and generating a settlement request based on the datareceived from the settlement machine.
 48. The settlement processingprogram according to claim 46, wherein, in the step of receiving thereturn data by the settlement processing apparatus from the settlementprocessing support apparatus in response to the settlement request, thereturn data contains data which indicates an approval to the settlementrequest, and connections with the settlement machine are made only aftersuch data is received.
 49. The settlement processing program accordingto claim 46, further comprising the step of: searching and selecting ofanother end of connections out of a list of the settlement processingsupport apparatuses in communication-accessible area to make connectionswhen transmitting the settlement request to the settlement processingsupport apparatus.
 50. A settlement processing support program whichexecutes processing requested by a settlement processing apparatus whichrequests for a support in settlement processing to be provided by asettlement processing support apparatus, wherein said settlementprocessing support program comprising the steps of: receiving asettlement request from the settlement processing apparatus; performingauthentication of the settlement processing apparatus based oninformation which has been received from the settlement processingapparatus in advance and which is required for the authentication of thesettlement processing apparatus; executing the processing in response tothe settlement request; and transmitting data or a command which isoutputted through the processing to the settlement processing apparatus.51. The settlement processing support program according to claim 50,further comprising the step of: making a judgment as to whether therequested settlement processing is approved or disapproved by comparingthe settlement request from the settlement processing apparatus with theapproval criteria stored in the settlement processing support apparatusprior to the step of executing the processing by the settlementprocessing support apparatus in response to the settlement request. 52.The settlement processing support program according to claim 51, whereinthe approval criteria contain a monetary amount or a purpose of thesettlement.